Benjamin's Christmas
by Terminal10
Summary: Christmas is coming but so is trouble when the local bully Punk Rat tells mouselets not to believe in Santa Claus. Can Benjamin comvince them and Punk Rat to believe in Santa again?
1. Prologue

It was the night before Christmas.

Everyone was getting ready for bed.

Including a little mouse. That was me. Stilton. Benjamin Stilton. I am Geronimo's nephew.

I couldn't wait. For it was the night I would see Santa Claus.

It was every mouselets dream to see him.

I put on my pajamas. I turned off the lights. I jumped into bed.

I waited. Waited patiently for Santa to come.

I was just beginning to doze off when I heard something.

I looked out the window.

There were twelve reindeer and a sleigh on top of my neighbor's house.

And there, a big mouse in a red suit carrying a huge bag jumped down their chimney.

"Santa Claus," I gasped.

The mouse jumped back up and flew to my house.

I jumped into my bed.

"Ho, ho, ho," I heard someone chuckle.

I began singing in a soft voice.

"_You better watch out,  
>You better not cry,<br>You better not pout I'm telling you why,  
>Santa Claus is coming to town.<br>He's making a list,  
>He's checking it twice,<br>He's going to find out who's naughty or nice,  
>Santa Claus is coming to town.<br>He knows if you are sleeping,  
>He knows if you're awake,<br>He knows if you've been bad or good,  
>So be good for goodness sake.<br>So, you better watch out,  
>You better not cry,<br>You better not pout I'm telling you why,  
>Santa Claus is coming to town."<em>

As I went to sleep, I said, "I will always believe in you."_  
><em> 


	2. It's Snowing

One year later, at the North Pole…

"This is terrible," A mouse in a red suit said. It was Santa Claus. He was staring at two ice sculptures.

One was a sculpture of a cheerful, happy mouselet and the other a lonely, upset mouselet.

The cheerful mouse represented mice who believed in Santa, the other represented mouselets who didn't believe in him.

The disbeliever sculpture grew a little bigger. It meant another mouselet had lost his belief in Santa.

"Every year more mouselets lose their belief in me," Santa said. The disbeliever sculpture grew even bigger.

Santa shuddered. "Please, Santa, think of the positive, not the negative," An elf said.

As soon as he said that, the believer sculpture grew a little bigger.

"See what I mean?" The elf said. "Mice are remembering to believe in you, too."

"Your right," Santa said. "But you know what will happen if more mice start forgetting me."

"Yes, I know," The elf said. "You will reveal yourself to everyone."

"Yes, but first we must focus on the mouse that believes in us more than anyone else. Benjamin Stilton," Santa said.  
>Meanwhile, back at my house, I had just woken up.<p>

I looked outside. Snowflakes fluttered down on the ground.

"Snow!" I squeaked. I raced down the stairs.

Mom had a trey of gingerbread cookies.

I bit into one. "It's snowing," I said. "And that means I'm going to see Santa Claus."

"Yes you are," My mom said.

My distant cousins, Penniford and Saveanna Stingysnout, jumped down the stairs.

They had come to visit us for one month.

My mom took a big jacket out for Penniford.

"It is very cold outside, so wear this jacket," She said. Penniford put on the jacket.

"I can't put my arms down," He said. It was true. The jacket was so big and tight that he couldn't even bend his arms.

""Put those arms down when you get to school," My mom said. She wrapped a scarf around his face.

He whined until we got outside. Mice were already outside. I ran up to join my friends Bugsy Wugsy and David.

"Come on guys, wait up, come on, wait up," Penniford squeaked. Carmen, a girl in my class, bumped into him by accident, knocking him over. She acted as if she didn't notice and continued walking.

Penniford started rolling around on the ground, trying to get up. But his big jacket prevented him.

"I can't get up. I can't get up! Help! Help, I can't get up!" He squeaked.

I sighed.

"Bugsy, David, wait for me," I said.

I ran over and helped Penniford up.

"Come on, we're going to a special place," I said.


	3. St Nick's Elves

Penniford and Saveanna followed us into an abandoned house.

"This is the special place we're going?" Saveanna snorted. "An abandoned house?"

"Hey, it's one of the few abandoned houses in the town," I said.

We stood in front of a door. I opened it. Mouselets were already there.

"Took you long enough," Malcolm said. He stared at Bugsy, Penniford and Saveanna. "So, these are the newest members?"

"You bet they are," I said. "What is this?" Saveanna asked.

"This is St. Nick's Lobby," I said. "But Santa isn't here," Saveanna said. "It's just a name," I said.

"OK," Saveanna said. "St. Nick's Lobby is our HQ," I said. "When at a special meeting or on a mission, we are known as St. Nick's elves," I said.

"St. Nick's elves?" Penniford said. "Yah, St. Nick's elves," Bratfur said.

"Bratfur?" Bugsy said. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, when it's winter, I turn into a good mouse," Bratfur said.

"OK, can I join the group now?" Bugsy asked. I shook my head.

"OK, what do I have to do to join the group?" Bugsy asked.

Bratfur handed me a picture.

It depicted Benjamin convincing Punk Rat, the school bully, to believe in Santa Claus.

"Why is Punk Rat the non-believer?" Bugsy asked.

"Yah, I didn't tell you of him," I said. "Punk Rat hated Santa Claus for as long as I remember. Every winter he convinces mouselets not to believe in Santa Claus. He even made his own group, the Santa-Biters. Their HQ is in another abandoned house called Snow Monster High."

"Let me guess, the Santa-Biters and St. Nick's elves don't get along," Saveanna said.

"You bet they don't," I said. "If you dare go to Snow Monster High they will bury you in snowballs."

"Wow, they must be mean," Saveanna said.

"You bet they are," I said. "Going to Snow Monster High is strictly forbidden."

"Well anyway, you have to convince at least three mice to believe in Santa Claus in order to join the group," I said.

"OK, that shouldn't be hard," Bugsy said.

"It is hard," I said. "Punk Rat and the Santa-Biters almost always try to stop us," I said.

Bugsy gulped.

"Well then, let's go," Saveanna said. They scampered out.

"Be careful!" I squeaked.


	4. Spread the News

Bugsy, Saveanna, and Penniford scampered through the snow.

"Which mice should we start with?" Penniford asked. "The naughty ones," Bugsy replied.

"Shouldn't we go to the good mice?" Penniford said.

"What's the point of telling good mice to be good if their already being good?" Bugsy said.

"Oh," Penniford muttered.

"We need to tell the bad mice to be good if they want Santa Claus to give them presents," Bugsy said.

Meanwhile, back at the North Pole, Santa was watching them with a snow globe.

"Yes, that is what you must do," He said.

Saveanna sighed. "How are we supposed to convince all these mice to believe in Santa Claus?" She said.

"I know a song that will catch everyone's attention," Bugsy said. "Santa Claus is coming to town."

"I know what you're thinking," Saveanna said.

"Yes, so let's go out there and spread the news," Bugsy said.

They split up.

Little did they know a grey mouselet with orange hair was watching them. A mouselet named Punk Rat.

A mother baked a trey of cookies. "Now, these are for your sister too," She said to her son.

As soon as she left the boy took a handful of cookies, leaving only one.

Before he could stuff them in his mouth, Penniford appeared at the window.

"You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout I'm telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town," He said. The boy put the cookies back on the trey.

Penniford smiled.

A girl took a huge snowball and aimed for her little brother. She looked and saw Bugsy standing right beside her.

"He's making a list, he's checking it twice, he's going to find out whose naughty or nice, Santa Claus is coming to town," She said. The girl smiled and threw the snowball away.

A boy took a water gun and aimed for a married couple passing by. Saveanna appeared next to him.

"He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake, and he knows when you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake," She said.

The boy smiled and walked back home.

At the North Pole, the believer sculpture grew a bit bigger.

Penniford, Saveanna, and Bugsy all came to the same place and started singing as loud as they could.

"You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout we're telling you why!" They sang. "Santa Claus is coming to town!"

The sky was filled with the singing of mouselets.

"Santa Claus!" They chanted. "Santa Claus!"

At the North Pole, the believer sculpture grew so big it towered over Santa himself. He smiled.

Penniford, Saveanna and Bugsy smiled. Many mice now believed in Santa Claus.

Then three mouselets approached them. One was a girl, and the other two were boys.

"Can you come with us?" The girl asked.

"Sure," Saveanna said. They followed them, away from the others. They didn't know this, but these three mice were Santa-Biters.


	5. Snow Monster High

Yes, they were Santa-Biters. The bratty mouselets who refused to believe in Santa Claus and determined to convince others to turn from him too.

They certainly weren't going to let three mouselets get away with what they were doing. Telling mice to believe in Santa. Bah! They should be taught a lesson.

"So, where are we going?" Saveanna asked. "Some place special," The girl said.

"Will we like this place?" Bugsy asked. "Sure," One of the boys lied.

"OK," Penniford said. "What is this place called?"

"Snow Monster High," The girl said.

"What?" Bugsy gasped.

Meanwhile, at St. Nick's Lobby, I had begun worrying.

"Bugsy, Penniford, and Saveanna should've been here by now," I said. I turned to Bratfur.

"Should we send out some of St. Nick's elves?" I asked him. "I'm sure their alright," Replied Bratfur.

"Actually, we aren't supposed to go there," Bugsy admitted.

"Too late, we're already there," The girl responded.

Bugsy found herself staring directly at an abandoned house. Penniford heard laughing.

He turned and saw a mouselet standing up on an ice hill. Then several mouselets appeared.

The three Santa-Biters backed off into the huge group.

"Well, isn't this a delightful surprise," A voice called. Bugsy, Penniford and Saveanna all turned around.

There, sitting on top of an ice hill, was Punk Rat. The leader of the Santa-Biters.

"Still they haven't come," I said, back at St. Nick's Lobby. "I wonder what's happened to them."

I turned to Bratfur. "If those three don't arrive in five minutes I'm going out to find them," I said.

Punk Rat hopped down the ice hill.

"So, your St. Nick's elves?" He smirked.

"Not officially, yet," Bugsy said.

"Well, we don't like it when mice like you speak nonsense about Santa Claus," Punk Rat said. "So don't."

"You're not the boss of us," Saveanna said. The group of Santa-Biters started closing in.

Penniford charged at Punk Rat, but he jumped away. Penniford bumped right into the ice hill.

"Don't hurt him," Saveanna said. "He's weak and vulnerable in that jacket."

"No I'm not," Penniford said. Punk Rat rammed into him, and he toppled over. He started rolling on the ground, unable to get up.

"Saveanna, go get help," Bugsy said. Saveanna scampered off, dodging snowballs.

"Well, at least we got two left," Punk Rat said.

Back at St. Nick's Lobby, I was counting down. "Five, four, three, two…"

Suddenly, Saveanna burst into the room. "Bugsy and Penniford have been captured by the Santa-Biters!" She squeaked. "They're at Snow Monster High."

I didn't waste a second. "Let's go!" I squeaked. All of St. Nick's elves scampered towards Snow Monster High.

"Is this really necessary?" Bugsy asked. She and Penniford had been tied up and were surrounded by Santa-Biters, all with snowballs in their hands.

"No," Said Punk Rat. "We just want to do it."

"Stop!" A voice squeaked. Punk Rat turned around. There I stood, with all of St. Nick's elves by my side.

"Give them back," Bratfur said. "Fine, take 'em," Punk Rat said. The three Santa-Biters who led them to Snow Monster High threw Bugsy and Penniford at my feet.

I untied them. "Don't you ever do that again," Bratfur said to Punk Rat. He was met by a snowball flying towards his face. "That was not cool," I said as Bratfur wiped snow off his face.

"But it sure was funny," Punk Rat smirked. The Santa-Biters all laughed and scampered back into Snow Monster High.

"Something tells me we haven't seen the last of them," Bugsy said.


	6. Official Elves

Me and all the official and unofficial St. Nick's elves scampered back to St. Nick's Lobby.

"I thought I told you not to go to Snow Monster High," I said to Bugsy and the Stingysnouts.

"I didn't know those three were Santa Biters," Bugsy responded.

"You didn't see their sign?" I said. "What sign?" Penniford asked.

"The sign that lets you know that they are official Santa-Biters," I said.

"Well what does it read?" Penniford asked. "I bet they don't say anything linked to being a Santa Biters."

"It reads 'Santa Biters from Snow Monster High'," I said. Penniford backed away.

"Well where is it supposed to be?" Bugsy asked.

"On jackets," I said.

"Where on your jackets," Bugsy asked. "I bet it's so tiny you can barely…"

Before she could say anything else, I said, "It's on their chest, shoulders, and back in big letters."

Bugsy didn't say anything else. She looked like her mouth had been glued so she couldn't talk.

Saveanna decided to change the subject. "Well, we did convince several dozen kids into believing in Santa Claus," She said.

"Excellent," I said.

"So, that means we're official members, right?" Penniford asked. "Yup, there's just one thing you have to do," I said.

"What is it?" Bugsy asked.

I took a blank paper, took a scissor and cut a square out. I wrote 'St. Nick Elf' in it.

I glued it on Bugsy's jacket shoulder.

I did this to Penniford and Saveanna.

"You are now official St. Nick elves," I said. The other mouselets cheered.

Far away, Punk Rat heard the cheering and sneered.

"When I'm done with all the mice that believe in Santa Claus, they're going to pray that I was right," He said.


	7. Geronimo the Werecat

That night, I decided to see some of my relatives. I phoned my uncles, Geronimo and Trap, my aunt Thea, and my William Shortpaws.

Then I sat in my room, waiting for them to come.

Finally I heard the doorbell. My mom opened the door. Trap and Thea stood at our doorsteps.

I raced down the stairs and hugged Thea and Trap.

"Is Geronimo coming?" I asked.

"He should be here soon," Thea said.

Meanwhile, Geronimo drove to my house.

He parked his car and walked out.

A big rock was on a hill. Then it started rolling down the hill. It got faster and faster.

Then hit an even bigger rock saved like a knife, causing the rock to fly through the air and land right on Geronimo's paw.

A jolt of pain shot through Geronimo's leg. His eyes widened.

"MMMMMMMMEEEEEEOOOOOOWW!" He screeched. He covered his mouth. What had he said?

He had said meow. He gasped. Only cats said meow. Was something wrong with him? Had a werecat bit him in his sleep and he was turning into one. He looked up. It was a full moon.

Geronimo gasped louder. He was turning into a werecat.

He would have to accept it. So he walked into my house.

"Everyone, I have to tell you something," Geronimo said. "I'm a werecat."

"You're a what?" Trap asked. "I'm a werecat," Geronimo repeated.

"What are you talking about?" Thea asked.

"I said 'meow, when a rock fell on my paw," Geronimo said. "Being a werecat is the only explanation."

"You said 'meow'?" I asked. "Yes," Geronimo said. We all burst out laughing.

"What?" Geronimo asked. "Can't you see I'm a werecat?"

"Mice say 'meow' all the time," Thea said, laughing so hard tears were rolling down her snout. "Remember what happened with Uncle Samuel S. Stingysnout."

_Flash back…_

Samuel S. Stingysnout walked up a castle to a secret room. The room that hid his gold.

But as soon as he entered, he found the room empty. A note read,

_Samuel S, Stingysnout, we have taken your gold,  
>Hope you're not too angry,<em>

_To-Samuel S. Stingysnout._

_From, The Shadow and Bondi Bobirat._

As soon as he was done, Samuel looked up to the heavens and shrieked

"!" He screeched.

_Fast Forward…_

"Well I guess you're right," Geronimo said. "I'm not a werecat."

Then He accidently stepped on Trap's paw.

"MMMEEEEEEEOOOOOOWWWW!" Trap screeched.

I sighed. This was going to be a long winter.


	8. Argument at School

The next day I got up, yawned and jumped out of bed. I put on my white shirt and jumper suit and then my jacket.

"I'm going to St. Nick's Lobby," I told my mom. "OK, stay safe," She said.

I scampered over to St. Nick' Lobby. Bratfur was there.

"Where are the others?" I asked. "They went to solve a problem near school," Bratfur answered.

"Let me guess, it involves Punk Rat and the Santa-Biters," I said.

"Yeah, the Santa-Biters are having another argument," Bratfur said.

"Just like last winter," I moaned. "And the winter before that," Bratfur groaned. "And the winter before that, this has been happening nearly every winter," I said.

"Come on, let's go settle this argument," Bratfur said.

We scampered out to school.

"Santa Claus is real!" Penniford squeaked. "No he is not," Punk Rat said.

"Yes he is," Bugsy said.

"Bugsy's right," A girl said. "Santa Claus is real."

"Have you ever seen Santa Claus?" A boy asked.

"I have," A voice called. Everyone turned to stare at the speaker. There I stood. I was the speaker.

Punk Rat stomped towards me. "You saw Santa?" He smirked. I nodded.

Punk Rat laughed and walked away with his group.

I noticed something before he disappeared. I saw Carmen. I was shocked.

Bugsy turned to face me. "You really saw Santa?" She asked. "Last year, I looked out the window and saw him," I admitted.

"Cool," Saveanna said.

Then I decided to change the subject.

"Hey, did you notice something?" I asked. "No," Bugsy said.

"Well, I saw the girl that pushed me down by accident the other day," Penniford said.

"That was Carmen," Bugsy said. Then Bugsy gasped.

"Oh, my gosh," She said. "If you saw Carmen with the Santa-Biters, then that means…" She paused.

"Then that means she's a Santa-Biter," I said, finishing Bugsy's sentence. 


	9. Carmen is a Santa Biter

I scampered off to find Carmen.

I found her sitting on a log.

I walked up to her.

"Carmen, is it true you are a Santa-Biter?" I asked. Carmen shrugged.

"No, Carmen, I need an answer," I said.

"Well, yes," Carmen said.

"What!" I squeaked.

"Yes, I joined Punk Rat's group," She said.

"When?" I asked, trying to hide my anger.

"Five hours ago," Carmen said.

"Why?" I squeaked.

"Well, when was the last time you saw Santa?" Carmen asked.

"Last year," I said.

"Well, I haven't," Carmen said.

"That doesn't mean he doesn't exist," I said.

"I'm not saying he doesn't exist," Carmen said. "I'm saying he I can't be sure he's real if I've never seen him."

"But what if Punk Rat's lying?" I asked. "What if he knows Santa's real.

"I think that's enough," A voice said.

Me and Carmen turned around.

Punk Rat was standing there.

"Carmen, let's go," He said, ushering her away. "Don't talk to that crazy mouse."

As he and Carmen were walking away, Punk Rat turned away and silently told me to keep quiet.

It was then that I realized that Punk Rat knew something we all didn't. But what?


	10. Advice from the Adults

Bugsy scampered off to her aunt, Petunia Pretty Paws, house.

She ran up to her aunts doorsteps. She rang the doorbell. The door opened.

Petunia stood there, and Bugsy jumped into her arms.

"It's good to see you, Bugsy," Petunia said. "Is there anything you want?"

"Well, I'm part of a group called St. Nick's elves, mice who believe in Santa Claus," Bugsy began. "But there's another group, the Santa-Biters, and every winter they convince mice to turn from Santa. What are we supposed to do?"

"Well, what do you usually do?" Petunia asked.

"There are two things we usually do," Bugsy said. "One, we argue with the Santa-Biters."

"What's the second thing?" Petunia asked.

"We punch their lights out," Bugsy answered.

"Well, uh, have you tried reasoning with them?" Petunia asked.

"Yes, three times," Bugsy said. "We ended up with ice melting in our jackets."

"They took off your jackets and covered it with snow?" Petunia asked.

"No, they dumped it down our jackets while we were still wearing it," Bugsy said. "That's the main reasons we punched their lights out."

"They sound mean," Petunia said.

"They are," Bugsy said. "Yesterday they tied me and Penniford up. If St. Nick's elves hadn't come we would've been covered in snow."

"Well, if you can't reason with them, avoid them," Petunia said.

"That's good advice," Bugsy said. "Thank you."

She scampered out of the house.

"I can't reason with Punk Rat," I said to Geronimo. "What am I supposed to do?"

Geronimo grimaced. He remembered Punk Rat. That brat kept playing mean pranks on him.

"Well, don't talk to him," Geronimo said.

"I've tried that, he won't leave me alone," I said.

"Well, if he won't leave you alone, punch his lights out," Geronimo said.

"Well, OK," I said.

I walked out of the house.


	11. Steven

A mouselet named Steven walked by. He had brown fur, a red necktie, a button up shirt and blue jeans.

Me, Bugsy and St. Nick's elves were sitting on an ice hill. Saveanna and Penniford were at home.

Punk Rat and the Santa-Biters were on another ice hill. Punk Rat jumped down besides the Steven.

"Not again," I moaned.

"Hey, mouse, you know, there's a lot of foolish mice who believe in Santa," He said, staring at me.

I snorted.

"So, how about you come over to Snow Monster High and we'll make you an honorable Santa-Biter," Punk Rat finished.

"Well, OK," Steven said. He began following Punk Rat away. I jumped down and grabbed Steven by the shoulder.

"Or, how about you come over to St. Nick's Lobby and we'll make you a junior St. Nick elf," I said to him.

"Well, OK," Steven said. He followed me away. I turned and saw Punk Rat frowning at me.

I looked away. "Come back here," Punk Rat said. I ignored him.

I had no idea I was being watched. Santa Claus was watching me with a magical snow globe.

"He really is worthy of seeing me," Santa said.

"Yes, he is," An elf said.

"He doesn't start a fight, he walks away from bullies, and he convinces mice to believe that I'm real," Santa said.

"Then will you reveal yourself to him?" The elf asked.

"Not today," Santa said. "Maybe on Friday."

"Good idea," The elf said.

"Oh, and bring my son, Isaac," Santa said. "He plays a big role in my plan."

"Very well," The elf said.


	12. Singing and Dancing

Me, Steven and St. Nick's elves joined up at St. Nick's Lobby.

"OK, elves, we must tackle the non-believers," I said. St. Nick's elves cheered.

"We will fight them, and win," I continued.

"How will we do it?" Bugsy asked.

"We will do it like we always do," I said. "Convince the Frost-biters to turn to Santa again."

St. Nick's elves cheered.

"And we will do it by singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"," I said.

"Alright!" Penniford said.

We all scampered out.

We split up and searched for the non-believers.

A girl had a huge stick. She stared at some kids making snow men. When they left to get more snow, she walked up to the snow men and prepared to knock off their heads.

Suddenly, Steven appeared in front of her. "You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout I'm telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town," He said.

The girl smiled and threw the stick away.

Meanwhile, a boy put a rock in a slingshot and aimed for a passing girl.

Suddenly, Bugsy appeared in front of him.

"He's making a list, he's checking it twice, he's gonna find out who's naughty or nice. Santa Claus is coming to town." She said.

The boy smiled, dropped the rock and left.

Meanwhile, a boy was putting down his younger brother and refusing to let him join in a game of tag.

Penniford appeared. "He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows if you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake," He said.

"You'll be king counter," The boy said to his brother. Penniford smiled.

Meanwhile, I passed a note to a lineup of kids saying: Santa Claus is coming to Town. I handed one to Punk Rat.

Everyone agreed to listen to it except Punk Rat, who tore up the note.

Then he hit me with a snowball. I shook the snow off and frowned, before walking away.

"You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout I'm telling you why!" I squeaked. "Santa Claus is coming to Town."

"Santa Claus is coming to Town!" Everyone except the Santa-Biters squeaked.

"Are they ever going to shut up?" Punk Rat squeaked.

"I don't think so," Carmen said.

"Let's go back to Snow Monster High," Punk Rat said.

"I agree," Carmen replied.

They scampered away.

Geronimo opened the door.

"What is all this noise?" He asked.

"Mice believing in Santa," I said. "Isn't it like music to your ears?"

Geronimo listened and smiled.

"It is," He said.

He started singing.

"**When the mice sing,  
>In a skating ring,<br>I feel love in my heart,  
>Singing is a work of art."<strong>

I sang along with him.

"**Joy cures the broken heart,  
>The work of art,<br>The hearts of dogs, mice and cats,  
>Even the hearts of rats<br>Love is cures seizers,  
>Love cures fevers,<br>Love cures everything."**

Everyone joined in.

"**Love cures everything," **They sang.

Everyone started holding hands with the ones they loved and cared about.

I held hands with Bugsy.

Geronimo held hands with Petunia.

Saveanna and Penniford joined a group of mice.

With that, everyone danced. Everyone danced their own dance.

Some did ballet dances. Others did square dances.

Me and Bugsy did a ballroom dance together. So did Geronimo and Petunia.

Penniford and Saveanna did ring-around-the-rosy.

It was a wonderful day no one world forget.****


	13. Back to School

I slept in my room.

My mom came.

"Benjamin, wake up," She said softly.

I didn't wake up.

"Benjamin," She said a little louder. I still didn't get up.

"Benjamin, it's Monday, the day you go back to school," She said. "And it's 7:30 am."

At that, I jumped out of bed, putting on my white shirt and red jumper suit and raced out the door.

I ran into Penniford and Saveanna's room and nudged them awake.

"It's Monday," I said. "The day we go to school."

"At least we still get to see each other since mom allowed us to switch schools and now we go to your school," Penniford said. He said this so fast that I barely understood him.

"Can you say that again?" I asked.

"Me and Saveanna are going to your school," Penniford said slowly.

"That was better," I said.

"Let's go eat," Saveanna said. We scampered downstairs.

We ate a bowl of cereal, brushed our teeth, put on our jacket's and ran to school.

Bugsy was waiting for us. "It took you long enough," She said.

"Hey, I was very tired," I said. "That big dance outside yesterday, remember?"

"Oh yeah, the big dance that you started," Bugsy said.

"Well, anyway, let's go to school," I said.

"Why are Penniford and Saveanna coming?" Bugsy asked.

"They go to this school now," I said.

We scampered off to school.

Mice were already there.

The bell hadn't rung yet. There was still enough time to have some fun.

We looked around at all of the ice. I saw a boy pick up a huge ice block and then smash it on the ground.

Some other mice joined in.

They took huge ice craters and smashed them on the ground.

Me, Bugsy, Saveanna and Penniford joined in.

We stepped on the ice and kicked it. We picked up ice craters and smashed them.

We laughed and played. Then the bell rang.

Everyone sighed and walked into the school.

We took off our bags and hung them up. We took out our planners and set it on our desk.

Our teacher, Miss Angel Paws, was standing beside a mouselet.

He had grey fur, and brown hair, with a green shirt and pants.

"Mouselets, we have a new student here," Miss Angel Paws said. "His name is Isaac Claus."

Everyone, including me, looked dumbfounded. I had never heard of anybody with "Claus" for a last name.

Well, except for the mouse that represented Christmas. My eyes widened. Could it be?

I shook the thought away. The new mouse being Santa's son. That was ridiculous.

Isaac sat next to me.

"OK, students, I want you to tell me how your weekend was," Miss Angel Paws said.

I raised my hand.

"You want to go first?" Miss Angel Paws asked.

"Yes," I said. "Ok," Miss Angel Paws said.

"Well, it started out like every weekend. I tell mice to believe in Santa. Some do, others don't. Like Punk Rat," I said.

Punk Rat turned to me and put his finger to his mouth, silently telling me to be quiet. I continued anyway.

"Punk Rat leads a group called the Santa-Biters, while I lead a group known as St. Nick's elves. We like to call the Santa-Biters and others who don't believe in Santa Frost-Biters."

I turned to a Santa-Biter behind me. "Frost-Biter," I said.

"Shush," Punk Rat whispered. I continued anyway.

"St. Nick's elves HQ is in an abandoned house called St. Nick's Lobby, while the Santa-biters HQ is in another abandoned house known as Snow Monster High. We often argue and fight because St. Nick's elves believe in Santa while the Santa-Biters don't, and we also have epic snowball fights called the Snow Wars."

"That was very interesting," Miss Angel Paws said. "I'm betting you all have had an epic weekend so, rather than hear it, you're all going to write it down. I'll go get the papers."

As soon as she left, everyone stared at me.

"You are dead," Punk Rat whispered.

I sunk into my seat.

Miss Angel Paws returned with the paper. She handed all of us one paper each.

I wrote down everything I had said before.

"Now everyone, as you know, the school play is on Wednesday and we have been practicing for weeks, so you better be ready," Miss Angel Paws said.

"The best part of winter is the school play," Punk Rat said. We all nodded.

We were all looking forward to the school play, but none of us more than Punk Rat.

After school, I scampered to my mom's house. I had barely left school grounds when I fell down.

I looked up. Punk Rat was standing over me.

"I told you that you were dead," He said. I jumped up and tackled him to the ground.

We wrestled each other.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" Some watching mouselets squeaked.

Miss Angel Paws came and broke us up.

"No fighting on school grounds," She said.

I shrugged and walked away.

Isaac scampered over to me.

"So, you're leader of St. Nick's elves?" He asked.

"Yeah," I said. "Can I join?" Isaac asked.

"You have to do one thing," I said.

Before I could say another word, Isaac started squeaking, "Santa Claus! Santa Claus!"

"We believe in Santa Claus!" Many other mice squeaked.

"You're in," I said. We scampered off.


	14. The Snow Wars

**Note: I got the Snow War idea from the 1998 film Jack Frost.**

Me and Isaac scampered into St. Nick's Lobby.

Only Bratfur, Bugsy and three other boys were there.

"Where are the others?" I asked.

"The Snow Wars, remember?" Bratfur replied.

We heard a whistle.

"The war has started," I said.

"We have to get there," Bratfur said.

We scampered outside.

We looked down. There was a huge field of mouselets. I recognized several Frost Biters and St. Nick elves.

"Let's go," I said. We ran down the hill.

Me and Bratfur joined up with Bugsy behind a huge snow shield.

"How's the war?" I asked.

"The Frost Biters have us all pinned, and now their bringing out the big guns," Bugsy said.

"Come on, how bad could it be?" I asked. Then I saw it. The bi guns.

They were swings with the seats taken off and replaced by a baseball glove. And they were loading a huge snowball the size of Uncle Geronimo's head in it.

They aimed for us and pulled the glove back like a sling-shot. Then launched it.

I ducked for cover. The huge snowball crashed into the snow shield. The snow shield wasn't enough.

The snowball enveloped us. We crashed to the ground.

The Frost Biters laughed. I was the first to recover and looked up. There, grinning down at me from a tall hill, was Punk Rat.

"Penniford!" Saveanna squeaked. Penniford was lying behind a tiny snow shield that just covered him. He was far from the others, and he couldn't escape, as he would almost certainly be hit with snowballs.

Many Santa-Biters were throwing snowballs at him. I saw some Frost-Biters loading a snowball into their big guns and aiming for him.

"Eat snow you little whiners!" Punk Rat squeaked as he launched a snowball from one of the big guns.

It flew through the air.

It hit the shield of a brother and sister, throwing them back.

"Benjamin, you have to save Penniford!" Saveanna squeaked.

"Bratfur, disable the big guns," I said. Bratfur ran out of the shield.

"Steven, draw the fire of the Frost-Biters," I said.

Steven ran out in full view of the Santa-Biters.

"I dare you to hit me!" He called. The Frost-Biters threw snowballs at him, but he dodged.

"You can do better than that!" He squeaked.

Punk Rat loaded a big snowball and aimed for him. Suddenly, Bratfur came up and pushed him in front of the big guns.

Punk Rat was sent flying and landed two meters away.

Bratfur slid down the hill.

I ran towards Penniford and led him away.

"Charge!" Steven squeaked. St. Nick's elves charged up the hill, throwing snowballs.

The Frost-Biters squeaked and started running away.

"We did it!" Bugsy squeaked. "We chased them away."

"Uh, I don't think they were running from us," Steven said nervously. We turned around.

A huge, immense snowball fifteen feet tall and ten feet wide was rolling down the hill right towards us.

We squeaked and started running.

Penniford and Saveanna were caught in the snowball. Several other mouselets were caught in it too.

Not even I could escape. I squeaked as I was covered by snow.


	15. In the Hospital

I opened my eyes. I could see several mouselets lying by me. My eyesight was blurry, so they looked like dark shadows.

I heard growling. I looked up. I was staring up into the face of a growling wolf.

Then I saw several more figures scampering towards me. Though my vision was blurry, I could make out some mice.

I could see Geronimo among the group. I could also see Thea and Trap. And Petunia was there too.

That was the last thing I saw before I blacked out again.

A few minutes later I opened my eyes. I could see an ambulance.

I was on a stretcher. I was being loaded into the ambulance. I passed out again.

I woke up. I was on a hospital bed. My arm was in a cast. A bandage was wrapped around my head.

I looked to one side. I saw Bugsy, her leg in a cast. Her eyes were closed. I sighed and looked to the other side.

Penniford and Saveanna were also lying in bed. Penniford's right arm was in a cast. They were both awake. They were staring at me.

I heard talking. "I have to see him," A voice said. "He's my nephew."

It was Geronimo. "Alright," Another voice said. "He is your nephew."

The door opened. Geronimo scampered in. He stood by my side.

"Benjamin, I am so sorry this happened," He said.

"You don't need to be," I said. "You had nothing to do with this."

"The giant snowball was caused when a snowman rolled down the hill and crashed into other snowmen," Geronimo explained.

"We have got to stop putting snowmen on hills," I said. "Why were you all here when this happened?" Geronimo asked. "I thought you were going to go home."

"We were caught up in the Snow Wars," I said.

"The Snow Wars," Geronimo snorted. "You know that snowball fight?" I asked.

"Know it?" Geronimo said. "Everyone knows it. That snowball fight has been going on for generations."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes, it's a tradition," Geronimo said. "All mouselets who believe in Santa fight those who don't in a snowball fight."

"That explains why we have been doing it for years now," I said.

"I don't blame you," Geronimo said. "I fought in the Snow Wars when I was a mouselet, so did Grandfather William. But you should've been more careful."

"I know," I said. "I have just one more question: How did you find us? We were deep in the forest."

"That would be Carmen," Geronimo said. "She escaped and brought us to where you and the others were."

I saw Carmen standing a few feet away. I smiled.

"And you were lucky. That forest is home to wild dogs and bears," Geronimo continued. "Me and Thea had to ward off a pack of coyotes while the others loaded you onto the stretcher. Some bears and wolves followed us while we were trying to get away and attacked. They knew we had a disadvantage since we were trying to fight them off and save you at the same time."

Thea came in. "It was a miracle none of you were taken. But those animals did get some lucky shots." She pointed to my arm that was in a cast.

"One wolf nearly dragged you away, but I saved you," Geronimo said.

A doctor came in. "None of the damage is permanent. You should be out by tomorrow," He said.

I smiled. Then I saw a mouselet come in. It was Isaac.

"What's up, bro?" He asked. "I'm fine," I said. "I stayed by you when you were unconscious, even when the coyotes showed up."

"Thanks, man," I said. "Where's Punk Rat?"

"He's at home. He escaped, along with Bratfur, and now their at home."

I snorted. "They didn't stay to help?" I asked. "Bratfur did," Isaac said. "He threw snow at an attacking Grizzly bear while the others helped load you into the ambulance."

"Punk Rat didn't stay to help?" I snorted. "He was a coward," Isaac said. "He didn't even come to help when Geronimo and the searching party walked into the forest."

I snorted again. "Well, anyway, how about we let you get some sleep?" Thea asked. "Yeah," I said.

They left the room. I then closed my eyes and went to sleep.


	16. Jingle Bells

I woke up. I sat up on bed.

I yawned.

I looked around. I was still in the hospital. So was the other mouselets.

By now Bugsy had awoken. She also sat up. "Where are we?" She asked.

"In the hospital," I said. "You were out cold for ten hours."

"What about you?" Bugsy asked. "I woke up constantly, and then fell back asleep," I replied.

"Why did they take us here?" Bugsy asked.

"The giant snowball, remember," A voice said. We turned around. Steven was sitting on the bed besides Bugsy. He had no casts on, just a bandage on his arm.

"How come you aren't as hurt as us?" I asked. "I had the sense to jump to the side to let the snowball pass."

"Wait, so we actually could've avoided getting hit if we just jumped to the side?" I said. "Yeah," Steven said.

"Wait, so, why are you in the hospital if you avoided the snowball?" Bugsy asked.

"I was helping get you on the stretcher when the wild dogs attacked. A coyote bit me," Steven answered. "Can you believe Punk Rat didn't come to help us?"

"I know, that was so wrong," I said. "He's a coward."

"Well, when should you be out of the hospital?" Bugsy asked. "Right about…" A doctor came in.

"You're free to go, Steven," He said. "Now," Steven finished. He scampered out.

"What about us?" Bugsy asked. "In a few more hours," The doctor said. He left the room.

I sighed. "What should we do?" I asked.

"How about we sing Jingle Bells?" Bugsy said.

"OK," I said. We started singing.

"**Jingle bells,  
>jingle bells,<br>jingle all the way,  
>oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.<br>O, Jingle bells,  
>jingle bells,<br>jingle all the way,  
>oh, what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh!"<strong>

Me and Bugsy finished and fell asleep.

Meanwhile, at Snow Monster High, Punk Rat was lying on the sofa.

Most of the other Santa-Biters were there. Punk Rat was drinking soda.

A rock flew through the window.

"What was that?" Punk Rat squeaked.

He looked through the window.

Bratfur and Isaac were standing outside.

"Go away, elves!" He squeaked.

"No, you coward!" Bratfur yelled.

"Don't you dare call me a coward!" Punk Rat squeaked.

"Why not?" Isaac asked. "You are a coward."

"Yeah, you ganged up on Saveanna, Penniford, and Bugsy and you didn't assist the searching party."

Punk Rat snorted. "Leave before I pelt you with snow!" He yelled.

"No!" Bratfur squeaked. "Benjamin and so many others are in the hospital because of _you_."

"How is it my fault?" Punk Rat squeaked. "You didn't warn them that there was a giant snowball coming. You just ran like the coward you are!" Isaac squeaked. "At least Carmen had the sense to call Geronimo about the problem!"

Punk Rat said nothing. "Yeah, that's right, don't speak!" Bratfur said. "You know you're a coward!"

"Leave now!" Punk Rat yelled.

"Fine," Bratfur said. "Because you know you're a coward." He and Isaac left.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, I was overjoyed. "We're actually leaving?" I squeaked.

"Yes, you are," The doctor said.

"Oh, goody," Bugsy said.

We put on our jackets and left the room.

Geronimo was sitting in the car.

"Mind if I give you a ride?" He asked.

"None at all," I said. We hopped into the car and we drove off.****


	17. Out From the Hospital

We drove towards home.

"You know, I still can't believe we got run over by a giant snowball and attacked by wild dogs and none of the damage is permanent," Bugsy said. "I know," I said.

We arrived at home. We jumped out.

"Good bye," I waved to Geronimo as he drove off.

We scampered into our house.

"You're back, Benjamin," My mom said. "Yeah, none of the damage is permanent," I said.

"What about Penniford and Saveanna?" My mom asked.

"Still in the hospital," I said. "The damage done to them was far worse than the damage done to me."

"That's too bad," Mom said. "The good news is they should be out of the hospital in a few hours."

"That is good news," Mom said.

"Can I have a cup of hot chocolate please?" I asked. "You wouldn't believe how long I was unconscious out in the cold."

"OK," Mom said. She took a cheese-colored cup, poured some milk into it, and put it in the microwave.

I put on my robe and sat down. My mom took out the cup and then took some hot chocolate out.

She poured it into the cup. Now the cup was complete. She handed it to me.

"Thank you," I said. I sipped my tea.

Someone knocked on the door. Mom came and opened it. Trap stood there. He had a box of cheesy chews in his hands.

"I really want to eat these, but I just feel I should give Benjamin these," He said.

He handed mom the cheesy chews. "Good bye," Trap said. He closed the door.

"I think I should give these to the mice still in the hospital," I said.

We jumped into the car and drove off.

I started singing.

"**Jingle bells,  
>jingle bells,<br>jingle all the way,  
>oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh.<br>O, jingle bells,  
>jingle bells,<br>jingle all the way,  
>oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh!"<strong>

I looked up. We were at the hospital already.

I jumped out, the box of cheesy chews in my hand. Suddenly I tripped.

The box flew out of my hand. As I looked up I realized I hadn't tripped. I had been tripped.

Punk Rat stood there, grinning. I watched the box fall. It fell into someone's hand.

Geronimo stood there, smiling. The box was in his hand.

"I'll hand the boxes to the mouselings," He said. He scampered off.

I stared at Punk Rat, who was frowning.

I scampered into the car.

We drove home.

We jumped out. We scampered home.

A few hours later, Penniford and Saveanna were at our doorsteps.

"Welcome back," I said. Suddenly, Steven ran towards us.

"The Santa-Biters have come!" He squeaked. "And they've brought out the big guns!" 


	18. To Throw Like a Pro

"What?" I squeaked. "Yes, the Frost-Biters have attacked St. Nick's Lobby," Steven squeaked.

"We have to go there," Penniford said. We ran off to St. Nick's Lobby.

I couldn't believe it. Snow covered the house. St. Nick's elves were throwing small snowballs at the Frost-Biters. But the Santa-Biters were prevailing.

They launched snowballs out off the big guns, sending them crashing to the ground, where big bits of snow splashed onto St. Nick's elves.

Liza, one of my classmates and a part of my group, threw a snowball. It was a direct hit.

It hit a Frost-Biter boy right in the face. He started rolling down the hill.

"I can't believe it," I said. Suddenly, Punk Rat squeaked. "There he is!" He yelled pointing at Steven. "There's the brat who drew away our fire and let Ben save that mouseling!"

Carmen launched a huge snowball from the big guns. Before Steven could react, the snowball struck him right in the stomach. He flew off his feet, and crashed three feet away into a snow shield.

The Santa-Biters cheered. I ran to help Steven up. "That hurts more than it looks," He muttered. "I can't believe Carmen hit me with that snowball."

"Don't be so mad at her," I said. "She is a Frost-Biter."

Bugsy appeared from behind the snow shield. "Yeah, they'd kick her out of the group if she didn't participate," She said. "And besides, she saved us from the wild animals when Punk Rat didn't."

A giant snowball flew towards Bugsy and struck her right in the snout. She crashed to the ground.

I looked up. Punk Rat smiled. I growled and started forming a snowball. Punk Rat saw what I was doing.

I added some wet slush and water to the snowball. It was now twice the size of the snowballs loaded in the big guns.

"Load me up," Punk Rat called to the other Santa-Biters. They started making a snowball.

I raised the snowball over my head. They finished the snowball and loaded it into the big gun.

I started sweating. Bugsy got up and watched. Punk Rat pulled the glove with the snowball back and aimed.

I threw the snowball. There was a huge splash. Punk Rat was covered in snow.

He crashed to the ground.

"Good shot," Bugsy said. "But I didn't hit him," I said. I pointed to a Santa-Biter, who crashed to the ground under the weight of the snowball I had thrown.

Bugsy looked puzzled. "Then who threw it?" She asked.

"I did," A voice called. We turned around. Isaac stood there, a snowball in his hand. He grinned.

Then he threw the snowball at another Santa-Biter. He crashed to the ground.

Before anyone, could react, Isaac grabbed snow off the ground and threw them at the Santa-Biters.

He threw them so fast no one could move a foot away. He threw snowball off the ground.

He threw about ten in about one second. My jaw hit the ground. He was throwing so many snowballs. And not one missed its target.

Mice started squeaking and scattering.

"Yes, that's right, run!" Isaac squeaked. "I am the wizard of blizzards! The lord of storms!"

The Santa-Biters ran. But they couldn't escape. Not one snowball missed.

When the Santa-Biters were all gone, they had all been hit. Even Carmen had been hit.

I ran up to Isaac and gave him a high-five. "That was awesome, dude," I said.

"Yeah, back where I come from, hitting a target with a snowball is like taking candy from a baby," He said.

"I gotta go there some time," I said. "I'll teach you how to throw like a pro," Isaac said.

We scampered off. When we were away from the others, Isaac picked up a snowball.

He rolled it on the ground until it was as high as my legs. Then he rolled a smaller snowball on the ground and mounted it on top of the bigger one. He took a snowball and rolled it until it was the size of my head. He mounted it on the others.

Then he took to sticks and stuck them into the side of the second snowball, making arms.

Then he took three buttons out of his pocket and stuck them to the front of the middle snowball.

Then he took two more buttons twice the size of the others and stuck them into the front of the last snowball.

Then he took a small button out of his pocket, the smallest of all of them, and stuck it onto the third snowball, making it a nose.

He had created a snow mouse. He hand me a snowball.

"Hit it," Isaac said. "OK," I said. I threw the snowball. It flew past the snow mouse's face. My face fell.

"Don't feel bad," Isaac said. "I'll show you how to do it."

He took another snowball.

"You have to aim for the face," He said. He pointed at the head and calculated the distance.

Then he threw. It struck the snowball right in the snow mouse's face. The head flew off and landed on the ground.

I chuckled.

Isaac fixed the head of the snow mouse back onto the body. "Now you try," He told me.

I aimed for the snow mouse's face. I calculated the distance.

Then I threw. It hit the chest. "That wasn't too bad," Isaac said. "Yeah right," I said. "I was aiming for the head."

"Well, then practice some more," Isaac said.

I took another snowball.

I aimed and threw. It hit just above the snowman. I frowned.

"Again," Isaac said. I took another snowball. I threw it.

It flew past the snow mouse. I growled. "Again," Isaac said. I took another snowball.

I threw it. It hit the snow mouse's left arm. It flew off. I smiled.

I took another snowball. After several minutes, I hit the face so hard the snowball made a hole right through the nose.

"Yes!" I squeaked. "I did it!"

"What's going on?" A voice asked. We turned around. Saveanna stood there, Looking puzzled.

"Isaac taught me how to throw like a pro," I said.

"Really?" She asked. I answered her by throwing a huge snowball at her. I flew into a tree.

Saveanna's face was covered in snow. We stared at the snowball.

We saw that the snowball had a hole shaped like Saveanna's face. It had been a direct hit.

"Cool," Saveanna said. "Can you teach me?"

"Sure," Isaac said. "I'll get the others in case they want to throw like a pro," I said. I scampered off.


	19. T'was the Night Before The School Play

I couldn't wait for the school play.

My entire class would be in it.

The characters were:

_Me: Santa Claus._

_Bugsy Wugsy: Mrs. Claus._

_Punk Rat: Gruzzlebeard Claus._

_Malcolm: Rudolph the red-nosed Reindeer._

_Carmen: elf._

_Liza: elf._

_Penniford: Donner._

_Malcolm: Dasher._

_David: Dancer._

It wasn't everyone, but it was everyone I could remember.

Punk Rat scampered up to me. "Can you believe I'm actually gonna be Gruzzlebeard Claus, Santa's evil brother?" He asked.

"Of course I can believe it," I said. "You always act like a grouch."

Everyone laughed. Punk Rat looked puzzled.

"Just don't ruin this play," He said sternly. "Oh, Punk Rat, where would you get that an idea like that?" I laughed.

Punk Rat held up a picture and showed it to me.

It showed the Easter Egg Play a few months ago where I accidently fell on Punk Rat, who was dressed as the Easter Egg Bunny, and then Bugsy tripped on us and she fell on us too, then we bumped into Carmen, who fell on us until everyone was piled on us.

"Oh, that's why," I muttered. "You still haven't let go of that? Come on, that was months ago."

"Do you know how many people were watching that?" He snapped. "Five?" I guessed. "Eight?"

"Two hundred mice!" Punk Rat yelled. "And do you know what you did next? You laughed it off with everyone else as if it were no big deal!"

I took a few steps back.

"I didn't know it was a big deal," I said. "And besides remember during Fall when you threw a pile of leaves into my back yard?"

"No," Punk Rat said. "And that wasn't even important."

"Oh really?" I asked. "I was stuck racking leaves for two hours!"

"I was racking leaves for five hours!" Punk Rat shouted back.

I knew I couldn't win this argument.

So I turned and walked away. "You come back here!" Punk Rat yelled. I pretended not to hear him.

I scampered out of the room.

As soon as I was outside I was hit by a snowball. I brushed the snow off.

Isaac and all the other St. Nick's elves stood there laughing. "I am warning you guys," I said, a dark expression on my face. They all stopped laughing.

"I just learned how to hit someone between the eyes with a snowball," I finished, laughing.

Everybody laughed as I threw snowballs at them. 


	20. School Play Disaster

I fell on my bed. I couldn't believe it.

The School Play was tomorrow. How exciting.

I fell asleep thinking of how the school play would go.

The next day I woke up early and jumped out of bed.

I put on my white shirt and red jumper suit.

I ate cereal and brushed my teeth. Mom kissed me goodbye as I scampered out the door with Penniford and Saveanna.

Bugsy was waiting for us. "Can you believe the School Play is today?" She asked.

"No," I said. "This day is gonna be awesome!"

"Unless you ruin it," A voice squeaked. We turned around. Punk Rat stood there, grimacing.

"Oh, come on Punk Rat," I said. "Yes, I did ruin the Easter Egg Play, but that's all."

Punk Rat stared at me. "OK, and I may have ruined the Harry Potter Play. And the Jonah and the Whale Play. And the Peter Pan Play. And pretty much every play that came before it, but that's all," I admitted.

"That's all?" Punk Rat yelled angrily. "When the Peter Pan Play was over all I was wearing was a green hat and pieces of my green shirt in full view of everyone!"

I gulped. "OK, how about we not talk about this for the entire day?" I said. Punk Rat snorted, and walked off.

I sighed."Well, let's face it, you did ruin all those other School Plays," Bugsy said. "I said not to talk about that," I snorted.

The bell rang. We scampered into class. We took out our Planners and set them on our desks.

Mss Angel Paws was waiting for us. "As you know class," She said. "The School Play is today at 6:30 pm. So I want you all to be ready."

"Tell that to Benjamin," Punk Rat snorted. "He's always messing things up."

I growled at him.

"Punk Rat, I know you're upset about what happened last year with the Peter Pan incident," Miss Angel Paws said. She tried to hide a smirk, but everyone saw it.

"That was not funny!" Punk Rat squeaked. "It was embarrassing! I was half naked in front of everyone!"

"Sewer Rats are entirely naked," I said. Punk Rat stared at me in anger.

"Never mind," I said. "Well, let's begin our math test," Miss Angel Paws said.

After school, I muttered, "I can't believe Punk Rat thinks I'm going to ruin the School Play."

"Well, you did ruin those other School Plays," Bugsy said. I stared at her.

"Well, if anything does happen at the School Play that is my fault, may lightning strike me dead," I said.

I heard thunder. "Uh, see you soon," I said. I scampered off.

At 6:00 pm, I jumped up and scampered off to school.

Everyone was already there. Punk Rat was wearing a fake grey beard, Bugsy had a grey wig, and I put on a white beard and put on a red suit. My friend Malcolm was in a deer suit, complete with two sticks on his head.

"Can you believe I'm actually playing as Rudolph," He asked. "Well, I'm playing as Santa, why should you be surprised that you're playing as Rudolph?" I asked.

"Good point," Malcolm said. I heard a car come to a stop.

"Geronimo's here," I said. I scampered outside. Sure enough, Geronimo was outside waiting for me.

"So you're actually playing as St. Nick?" He asked. "Yep," I said. "This is going to be great."

Thea came. She had a banana in her hand. "I know you'd be hungry," She said, handing me the banana.

"Thea, you know my nephew isn't gonna eat-!" He watched me scarf down the fruit. Thea smirked at Geronimo.

I walked up to the stage and threw the banana peel away. Not in the garbage can. Right on the stage.

Geronimo looked at me. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" He asked. "What could happen?" I asked.

Before long, a huge number of mice filled the stage and sat down the watch the School Play.

A number of my classmates were dressed as reindeer. Me and Bugsy, dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Claus, appeared with several other mouselings dressed as elves.

"Well, time to send the presents to the nice little children," I said. All of a sudden, Punk Rat, dressed as Gruzzlebeard, jumped onto the stage.

"I don't think so, Nick," He said. I didn't see the banana peel I had thrown on the stage.

I began to scamper towards it.

"Benjamin, don't!" Geronimo cried. Too late. I slipped on the banana peel. The peel flew through the air- and right into Punk Rat's mouth. He spit it out, and it landed on Malcolm's face.

"I can't see," He said. In the confusion, he crashed into the other mouselets. Liza ran to stop him, but crashed into Penniford, who in turn crashed into David.

"Mouselets stop," Punk Rat said. Carmen fell on him. I tripped on Punk Rat and crashed on top of him too.

Bugsy tripped and grabbed the nearest thing, which was Malcolm's deer suit. It ripped off. Bugsy fell on him, and they toppled off the stage.

I looked up. The stage was a mess. Carmen was tending to a wounded Liza.

Part of my sleeve had been ripped off. Everyone was shocked. Then I started giggling. Then laughing.

Bugsy joined in too. Our laughing encouraged everyone else to laugh.

"To all a good Christmas," I laughed. "And to all a good night," Bugsy said. As the curtains closed, I laughed even harder.

"That was hilarious," I said. "Don't you think Punk Rat?"

All of a sudden I stopped laughing. Punk Rat was standing in a dark corner, fury in his eyes.

I gulped. The fact that he was in a dark corner added to the scary effect.

"You will rue this day, Stilton," He said as he stalked off. I shuddered. I noticed everyone else had stopped laughing too.

"What does 'rue' mean?" Malcolm asked. "It means 'regret'," I said. "We're so gonna regret this," Bugsy said.


	21. After the School Play

I walked out of the school, frowning. Geronimo and Thea scampered up to me.

"What's wrong?" Geronimo asked. "You were laughing a moment ago."

"I know," I said. "I stopped laughing when Punk Rat said I would rue this day."

"Why would he say that?" Thea asked. "I ruined this Play and pretty much every Play that came before this one," I answered.

"Yeah, that Peter Pan Play," Thea said. She and Geronimo tried to hide a smirk. A snowball flew and struck Geronimo.

He turned around. Punk Rat was tapping his foot on the ground.

"That was not funny," He said. "It was embarrassing."

"Right," Thea said sarcastically. Punk Rat frowned.

"You know," Geronimo said, wiping the snow off his face. "When Punk Rat says rue, we rue the day we make him say rue."

"Yeah," I said. "Remember when I accidently ripped half of his clothe off in the Peter Pan Play? I ended up hanging from the flag pole."

"That's harsh," Geronimo said.

"I know," I said. "And embarrassing."

Bugsy scampered up to me.

"All of St. Nick's elves have learned to throw like a pro," She said.

"Great," I said. "Can you show me?"

"Yeah," Bugsy said.

She took a snowball and aimed for a Santa-Biter. It was the girl who led them to Snow Monster High. Her name was Tasha.

Bugsy threw. It hit Tasha directly in the face.

She grumbled and brushed the snow off.

Isaac came. "Benjamin, I need to show you something," He said.

"OK," I said.

I scampered off with him.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see," He said. We stopped. "Take a good look at that," Isaac said. I gasped.

A large group of Frost-Biters were attacking some Santa-believers with snowballs. The Frost-Biters were not from Punk Rat's group, but just as mean.

"What?" I gasped.

"This is how things have been going nowadays," Isaac said. "Anyone who believes in Santa are bullied by Frost-Biters."

"This is wrong," I said. A snowball landed in our direction. We looked up. Punk Rat and three other Santa-Biters stared down at us. "Santa-believers!" One yelled. "Santa-believers!"

"We have to go," Isaac said. We started running. I looked back. Punk Rat and the Santa-Biters were chasing after us. They were on sleds of all kinds. Punk Rat was on a bobsled.

"Go, go, go!" Isaac squeaked. Snowballs were hurled at us.

We dove into a small hole. Punk Rat skidded past the hole. We ran out of the hole. Punk Rat had two snowballs in his hand. He threw them.

It hit me in the chest. "That's it," I said. I scooped a snowball off the ground. I threw them. It hit Punk Rat in the face. He fell off the bobsled. He tumbled down a hill and crashed into a tree.

Me and Isaac did a high-five. We ran all the way back to St. Nick's Lobby.

We made it," I said. "Where were you?" Bratfur asked. "Punk Rat," I gasped for air. "He ambushed us with snowballs."

"All Frost-Biters have been doing that," Bratfur moaned. "What are we going to do about it?" Liza asked.

"I don't know," I sighed.


	22. Punk Rat's Revenge

I sighed as I ate my cereal.

"Ben, what's wrong?" Mom asked. "I can't believe how the Frost-Biters treat the mouselets who have the Christmas spirit in them," I said.

"I know it bothers you," Mom said. "I was actually chased by the Santa-Biters earlier today," I said.

"Really?" Mom asked. "Yeah," I said. "They even attacked St. Nick's Lobby. It's like the only place where I'm safe is at home."

"Don't worry," Mom said. "Those Frost-Biters are just bullies."

"Yeah," I agreed. "They are nothing but bullies. They can destroy my stuff, but they can't destroy my spirit."

Penniford entered.

"Punk Rat and the Santa Biters ransacked St. Nick's Lobby and stole nearly everything there," He said.

"WHAT?" I yelled so loud the entire neighborhood heard it. "NNOOOOOOOOO!"

"Still think they can't destroy your spirit?" Mom asked. I stared at her, then ran out the door to St. Nick's Lobby.

I couldn't believe it. The room was empty. All that was left there was the carpet. "He did say we would rue this day," Bugsy said. "We have to get our stuff back," I said.

All of St. Nick's elves marched to Snow Monster High. Punk Rat was looking out window down at us.

"Go away, elves!" He shouted. "No!" I shouted back. "You stole our stuff!"

"Who cares if I did?" Punk Rat shouted back. "I told you that you would rue this day."

"You didn't have to go and steal our stuff!" I said. "I don't play around!" Punk Rat squeaked.

"Oh, yeah?" I said. "Then how about you come down he and we'll settle things like real mice?"

"I could beat you down the stairs anytime," Punk Rat said.

"I'm gonna beat you _up _if you don't return our stuff!" Bratfur yelled. A snowball flew and hit him in the face. "Stop doing that!" He yelled.

"You had that coming!" Punk Rat yelled. "You and your friends ruined the play for me."

"Maybe that was bad karma," Bugsy blurted out. Punk Rat stared at her. "You know, I was just about to return your stuff to you," He said.

"Thanks a lot," Bratfur said. "Hey, who could blame her for saying that?" I whispered. "I heard that!" Punk Rat yelled.

"He's not going to give us our stuff back," Liza said. "Let's go."

"You haven't heard the last of us," Punk Rat called. "What else could you do?" I asked. I soon found out.

A few hours later, me and Isaac were sitting on an ice hill. "I need to use the bathroom," I said. "I won't be long."

I jumped down and walked away. Punk Rat came by. He spotted a group of mouselets and walked over to them. "You see that mouselet over there?" He said, pointing to Isaac. "He's Santa's son."

"Really?" One of the mouselet's asked. "Yes, he is," Punk Rat said. "He throws really well, he's in the St. Nick's elves group, and he seems to know a lot about Santa Claus."

"Wow," Another mouselet awed. Punk Rat grinned. "Santa's son, Santa's son," The mouselets chanted. "Yes, that's it," Punk Rat said. The mouselets started towards Isaac. "Santa's son, Santa's son," They chanted.

Isaac looked up and stared at them. The mouselets were marching towards him. Isaac got off the ice hill and started walking away. The mouselets started walking faster. Isaac's walking turned to running.

The mouselets ran after him, Punk Rat in the lead. "Santa's son!" They yelled. "Santa's son!"

I walked out of the bathroom. "Where's Isaac?" I asked no one. I looked up. I saw the mouselets chasing after Isaac. I ran after them.

Isaac ran like a hungry cat was stalking him. "Santa's son!" He heard the mouselets yell. "Santa's son!"

I ran as fast as I could. My heart was racing. But I didn't stop. Isaac found himself at the edge of a lake. He turned around.

The mouselets stopped running and walked towards him. "Santa's son," They chanted. "Santa's son."

They were like robots, marching towards him in a straight line. Isaac looked down. He was right at the edge of the lake. "Santa's son," The mouselets chanted. "Santa's son."

Punk Rat suddenly darted towards Isaac. Isaac lost his footing and fell. There was a loud splash as Isaac fell into the icy water. I raced towards Punk Rat. Before he could react, I slammed into him.

I grabbed him and drove him into a tree. "You idiot!" I yelled in his face. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" Punk Rat didn't say a word. I sighed, slammed him into the tree once more.

I dove into the lake. Punk Rat and the mouselets looked into the water. They could see bubbles in the water. The bubbles turned into loud bubbly foams.

The mouselets eyes opened wide. Then, the water exploded. I burst out of the water carrying Isaac, who was coughing up water.

"Let's get you home," I said. As I took him away. 


	23. Near Water

"I still don't get it," I said to Isaac. "You fell into icy water and you recover before we even get to your house."

"That always happens to me," He said. "Is that so?" I said. Bugsy scampered up to us. She noticed we were both wet and asked, "What happened to you?"

"Punk Rat convinced some mouselets that Isaac was Santa's son and drove him into a lake, forcing me to jump in after him," I said. "That dirty rat," Bugsy sneered. "I know," I said. "Do you know how long I was in there? Long enough for you to run ten meters and back."

"Wow," Bugsy awed. "And Isaac doesn't seem to be injured at all. He said that it always happens to him," I added.

"Anyway, Punk Rat gave us our stuff back a few minutes ago," Bugsy said. "I bet that was to say sorry for what he did to Isaac," I said.

"I'll show you," Bugsy said. We scampered to St. Nick's Lobby. All our stuff was exactly where it was, almost as if it had always been there.

"Wow," I awed. Then I heard a noise. I looked out the window. I couldn't believe it. The exact same mouselets who drove Isaac into the lake had surrounded the house.

"Santa's son," They chanted. "Santa's son."

I couldn't believe it. After all that had happened, they were still going to pester us for Isaac.

"Give Santa's son to us," One of them said.

"You beat-up idiots!" I yelled. "Is your brain filled with cheese? Have you payed any attention to what happened earlier? You drove Isaac into a lake. He almost died! And you're still going to pester us for him? Plus, the one that convinced you was Punk Rat, the local bully. You actually believed the local bully. Are you going to believe everything someone says?"

That shut them up. They turned around and hightailed it outta there. I actually felt a little sorry for them. But then again, they had been way too gullible. I had to be a little rough.

"What happened out there?" Bugsy asked. "The same mouselets who drove Isaac into the lake demanded I hand Isaac over," I said.

"Are you kidding me?" Bugsy asked. "Nope," I said. "That's just dumb," Bugsy said.

"Did you ward them away?" Isaac asked. "Yeah," I said. "Something tells me they won't be a problem no more."

"That's a good thing," Bugsy said.

"Hey, Isaac, I want to ask you something," I said. "Shoot away," Isaac said.

"You said that you always fall into water," I said. "Why is that?"

"Uh, well, let's just say I live near a lot of water," Isaac said.

"Really?" I asked. "Yeah," Isaac said. "I'm not from here."

"That explains why I only saw you a few days ago," I said.

"I think I hear someone calling me," Isaac said. "I better go." He scampered out the door.

"That was odd," I said. "I didn't hear anyone."

"Do you think he's hiding something?" Bugsy asked.

"I'm not sure," I said. "But I'm going to find out."


	24. Shopping Madness

Me, Penniford and Saveanna sat in our room.

"You know what?" I said. "I think we should go and by some presents for our friends."

"Good idea," Penniford said. We went to get my piggy bank.

"I have eighty bucks," I said. Penniford and Saveanna pulled out their piggy bank.

"We have forty bucks," They said. "That is just enough to by some presents," I said.

We scampered down the stairs. "Mom, we are going to buy some presents," I said to my mom.

"OK," She said. We put on our jackets, our winter hat and gloves, and ran out the door.

"I can't wait to buy the presents," Saveanna said. "Me too," I said.

We ran into Bugsy. "Where are you going?" She asked. "To the store," I said.

Bugsy smirked. "Good luck," She said. She walked away.

"Good luck?" I said. "What is that supposed to mean?"

_Two minutes later…_

"_Give that back!" I shouted to at an Indian boy. "It's for my uncle Geronimo._

_We were both holding onto a sweater, trying to pull it away from each other._

_The place was a mad house. Everyone wanted to buy presents, and they were wrestling each other for them._

_Penniford pulled a T-shirt away from a girl. A boy with black hair jumped down the balcony and right onto him._

_I finally tugged the sweater from the Indian boy. "AAAUUUGGGGGGGGGHHH!" I screamed as I was tackled to the ground by the same girl that had been wrestling Penniford for the T-shirt._

_I threw her off and ran towards a shop owner with the sweater in a bag. I gave him the money quickly and ducked to avoid being grabbed by the Indian boy._

_Me, Penniford and Saveanna dove out the door. I stopped to catch my breath._

"_Now I know what Bugsy meant when she said 'good luck'," I sighed._

"_At least we got the presents," Penniford said._

"_Yeah, that's a good thing," I said. "Let's go."_

_We scampered home._


	25. Friday Morning

I woke up. It was Friday morning.

Tomorrow would be the weekend. I jumped out of bed. I put on my shirt and red jumper suit. Then I dashed out the door and into Penniford and Saveanna's room.

"It's Friday," I squeaked. "Do you know what that means?"

"That we can go back to sleep?" Penniford asked. "No!" I yelled. "It means that tomorrow we don't go to school."

"Yippee!" Penniford cheered. "I'll go put my shirt on."

"Me too," Saveanna said. We scampered downstairs. Mom was waiting for us. "I see you're up early," She said. "It's only 5:40 am."

"So we can go back to sleep?" Penniford asked, hope in his eyes. He began running upstairs, but I grabbed him by the collar.

"You're not going anywhere," I said. "The early mouse gets the cheese."

"Speaking of cheese," Mom said. "I think you would enjoy a nice bowl of cheddar cereal."

"Yeah!" We squeaked. We dove into our chairs and waited patiently while Mom got some cheddar cereal.

She poured some cereal into the bowl, and then poured cheese milk into the bowl. Then she put it in the microwave and turned it on.

After about twenty seconds Mom took the bowl out. She handed it to me.

"Thank you mom," I said. I took a spoon and started eating.

Mom prepared Penniford and Saveanna's cheddar cereal too.

Then she turned on the T.V. and watched the news.

The weather man on the T.V. said, "There has been a huge weather storm outside. We must cancel all schools for the next few days," He said.

"Yeah!" Penniford squeaked. "We don't have to go to school!"

"That's funny," Saveanna said. "I don't see a storm outside."

We looked out the window. She was right. There was no snowstorm outside.

Then I realized something. There was a snowstorm outside, but there was no snowstorm around our house.

"What's going on?" I asked. I put on my jacket and scampered outside to see what was happening.

My jaw hit the ground. There, resting on our roof was Santa's sleigh. Twelve reindeer stood in front of it. The first one had a red nose.

"Rudolph," I gasped.

Mom ran outside.

"Oh my gosh," She gasped.

"Benjamin?" A voice called. I turned around. Geronimo was outside with his jacket on. He was scampering to our house.

He looked up at Santa's sleigh. "I knew it," He said. "Santa's real."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "When I was a child, so many years ago, on Christmas Eve when I was supposed to be asleep I walked outside and do you know what I saw?" He said.

"What did you see?" I asked. "Santa Claus eating the cookies and drinking the milk before he poured presents under our Christmas tree."

"Wow," Penniford gasped.

"And then with a "ho, ho, ho" The mouse jumped up the chimney," Geronimo finished.

"Ho, ho, ho," A voice laughed from the top of the roof. "It's Santa," We all said. "Climb in, all of you," He said.

"How are we supposed to do that?" I asked. Suddenly, I felt myself rise up. I looked down. My feet weren't touching the ground.

I was floating through the air. I looked around. Mom, Penniford, Saveanna and Geronimo were all floating too.

We floated all the way into Santa's sleigh.

We sat down. Bugsy was also sitting in the sleigh. Then, the reindeer floated through the air, pulling the sleigh.

"This is the most magical thing I've ever seen," I said.

Then my eyes widened. I turned around. There, seated beside Santa, was Isaac.

"Isaac?" I gasped. "Punk Rat was right," He said. "I am St. Nick's son."


	26. The North Pole

"What do you mean you're Santa's son?" I yelled. "I'm Santa's son," Isaac repeated.

My jaw hit the ground. "I was shocked too," Bugsy said. "But then again, he did act somewhat like an elf."

"It's true," Isaac said. Geronimo decided to change the subject. "So, uh, Mr. Claus, where are you taking us?" He asked.

"To the North Pole," Santa answered. "Really?" Geronimo asked.

"Really," Santa answered, grinning.

"So, why are we going here," I asked. "You're on the nice list," Santa said. "But a lot of mice are on the nice list," I said.

"You were on the top," Santa explained. "Wow," I awed.

"So I felt you should know about this," Santa said. "Especially after all you have been through."

We looked in front of us. We could see a castle. It was Santa's castle.

We landed.

"It's time to bring the reindeer into the North Pole barn," Santa said.

"Where is it?" My mom asked. "At the left of the castle, Ms. Jessica Parker Stilton," Santa said.

My mom's jaw hit the ground. "How did you know my name?" She asked.

"Of course I do," Santa said. "It's not like I forgot your name when you were a mouselet."

Isaac led Rudolph away. Suddenly, the ice below him gave away, and Isaac fell in.

I ran over to the broken ice. Isaac crawled out. "I hate it when that happens," He said.

"You just fell into icy water," I said. "I told you before," Isaac said. "That always happens."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, of course it does," Isaac said. He led Rudolph away.

"He acts like it's no big deal," I said. I heard a rumbling noise. I looked up.

A giant snowball the size of Geronimo was rolling down the hill towards me.

Before I could react, the snowball hit me.

I tumbled down a hill.

I fell onto the ice.

"Ouch," I said. I looked to my left. My eyes widened. A vicious leopard seal was headed my way under the ice.

I looked up.

Isaac flew down to me. He grabbed my hand. "I'll throw you up," He said.

"Well, I'm not the heaviest mouse on the block but I don't think-!"

I was cut short by Isaac throwing me in the air. I was sent flying. I crashed onto the top of the hill.

I looked down. I saw the leopard seal had stopped in front of Isaac and immediately swam away.

"Isaac?" I yelled. "How are you going to get back up?"

"That's easy," Isaac said. He jumped up. But he didn't hit the ground. Instead, he kept on floating.

My eyes widened again. Isaac could fly.

He reached the top of the hill. I stared at him. "What?" He asked. "Nothing," I said.

"Well, I think it's time I showed you the castle," Santa said.

"OK," I said. We scampered into the castle. 


	27. St Nick's Castle

We looked around the castle.

"This place is amazing," I said. "You can say that twice," Bugsy said.

"This place is amazing," I said again. Everyone laughed.

"You must like it here, Mr. Claus," Mom, or should I say Jessica, said. "I do," Santa said.

"Watch this," Isaac said. He clapped his hands. Three lines of elves appeared. They started singing.

"**It's a jolly, jolly Christmas,  
>For the naughty and the nice,<br>It's a jolly, jolly Christmas,  
>Don't need to say it twice."<strong>

"Great song," I said.

"**Boys and girls,  
>Clams and pearls,<br>Come and see,  
>Much to your glee,<br>On a car, on a truck, even on a bus,  
>That it's a jolly, jolly Christmas."<strong>

Everybody clapped their hands. "That was such a good song," Jessica said.

"If you think that was good, you should taste our food," Isaac said.

"I'd love to sink my teeth into that," Penniford said. He led us away to a room. A sign said: FOOD ROOM.

Isaac opened the door.

My eyes widened. Food and sweets that I never knew existed were everywhere. Nearly the entire room was filled with candy, ice cream, and chocolate.

"Dig in," Isaac said. We dove into the food.

I threw a chocolate bar into my mouth.

It tasted so sweet. It was, I swear, as tasty as twenty Smarties candy boxes plus a million.

A mouse could get use to candy like that.

I threw a cheesy chew into my mouth. However, this cheesy chew was blue rather than the normal orange.

But I didn't mind. The blue cheesy chew was twice as tasty as the normal one.

"It does taste good, doesn't it?" Isaac said. "You can say that again!" Saveanna squeaked, sucking on a Popsicle that had all the colors of the rainbow.

Penniford gulped down a chocolate bar that was called the Hyper-Candy. I soon realized why.

Penniford immediately started running around the room frantically, throwing candy into his mouth.

"We could use that, you know," I said. "How many of those Hyper-Candies do you have?"

"Five thousand," Isaac said. "Why do you ask?"

"Can you let me have some of them?" I asked. "Why not?" Isaac asked.

"Thank you," I said, stuffing Hyper-Candy and another candy known as Knock-Out chocolate into my bag. The name 'Knock-Out chocolate' explained it all.

Secretly, I planned on using these in the Snow Wars.

Santa came. "Mouselets, guess what?" He said.

Saveanna popped a candy known as Smarty-chews into her mouth.

"Let me guess," She said. "You're going to let us stay here for the night so we can learn more about this place."

Our eyes widened. "You're correct," Santa said.

"Yippee, we're sleeping over!" Penniford squeaked, obviously still affected by the Hyper-Candy.

"How about I show you the skating rink outside?" Isaac said. "OK," Bugsy said.

"Yes, the skating rink should be ten meters outside, then you turn left, slide down a hill, and then you'll be at the skating rink," Saveanna said. Our eyes widened again.

"Well then, let's go there," Isaac said. We followed him away.

To our surprise, the skating rink was exactly where Saveanna had said it would be.

We put on some ice skates and started skating with the elves.

Santa watched us. He turned to Jessica and Geronimo. "Mouselets are our future," He said. "Treat them kindly." 


	28. Punk Rat's Plan Revealed

We skated on the skating rink.

Santa came. "It's time to go inside, kids," He said. We sighed and took off our skating boots.

"I need to show you something," Santa said. We followed him to a room.

Mrs. Claus was waiting for us. "I see you have arrived," She said. "Look at this."

We turned around. It was the two sculptures. The believer sculpture was slightly smaller than the non-believer sculpture.

"What?" I gasped. "We convinced so many mouselets to believe in you, and still more don't believe in you?"

"That's the problem and the main reason I brought you here," Santa said.

"What can we do?" Penniford asked. "Turn mouselets back to believing in me," Santa said.

"We are," I said. "But there is one problem."

"It is Punk Rat," Saveanna said. "He doesn't believe in you and is convincing others to turn away from you too."

"Oh, I remember him," Santa said. "I use to give him presents every Christmas until the day he-!"

"Until he dropped that giant rock on me five years ago," Bugsy guessed. "Yes," Santa said. "Because of that I didn't give him a present, and he resented me ever since."

"That's terrible," I said. "Just because he received no presents on Christmas once he starts resenting you?"

"And now I can't give him a present because he's on the naughty list," Santa continued.

"And you can't give presents to many other mouselets because they don't believe in you either," Saveanna said.

"That's right," Santa said. "And if I don't give them presents they will convince others not to believe in me."

"I think that's Punk Rat's plan," I said.

"You bet it is," Bugsy said. "He's trying to ruin Christmas for everyone."

"No wonder he's on the naughty list," Penniford said.

"We have to convince him to believe in Santa," I said.

"That's easier said than done," Santa said.

"You can say that again," Isaac said.

"Well, we're going to have to think of this tomorrow," Santa said. "It's getting late."

I looked at the time. It was 8:58.

"It is getting late," I said. "We should go to bed," Penniford said.

"Yeah, we should," Saveanna said. We walked up the stairs and into our rooms.

I prayed and went to bed. 


	29. Leaving the North Pole

I opened my eyes.

It was morning. I walked over to Penniford's bed and woke him up, who woke Saveanna up.

Bugsy was already awake.

We scampered downstairs.

Isaac and Santa were waiting for us.

"It's about time," Isaac said. I looked into my bag. The candies were still there.

Then I went into the candy room. There were a few orange gums in wrappers. They were called Muscle Gum.

I liked the sound of that. Isaac came. "You're going to use those in the Snow Wars, aren't you?" He guessed.

"Yeah," I said. "I hope you know what you're doing," He said.

Meanwhile, back at New Mouse City, Steven was walking across the sidewalk.

Suddenly, Punk Rat and another boy pulled up in a toboggan.

"Steven, when was the last time I beat you up?" He asked. "Uh, never," Steven said. "Well, you're due now," Punk Rat said.

"Hey, look over there," Steven squeaked. Punk Rat and the Santa-Biter turned around. Steven used that distraction to run off.

"I don't see anything," The Santa-Biter said. "That's because there is nothing there, cheesebrain," Punk Rat said. "He's getting away."

The two Frost-Biters jumped out of the toboggan and started chasing after Steven.

"You come back here, four eyes!" Punk Rat yelled.

Steven ran like he was being chased by a tiger. He saw St. Nick's lobby and ran to it. At the same time, a giant snowball was rolling down a hill.

Steven dove into St. Nick's Lobby. He was safe. Punk Rat and the Santa-Biter weren't so lucky.

The snowball ran them over.

When they came out of the snowball they looked just like snowmen.

I sat in Santa's sleigh with Bugsy, Saveanna, Penniford, Jessica and Geronimo.

Santa came.

"It is time you went home," He said. "Let's go."

The reindeer floated up into the sky, pulling Santa's sleigh.

I fell asleep, when I woke up, I was lying in my bed. I looked out the window. I saw Santa's sleigh fly off.

"Now I really believe in you," I said.


	30. The Second Snow Wars

I walked downstairs. I was thinking of one thing: The Snow Wars.

The Snow Wars was starting in a few minutes, and I had to be there.

Penniford and Saveanna walked downstairs too.

"Do you think we're ready for this?" Saveanna asked.

"Of course we are," I said. I showed them the candy.

"Your gonna use those candies in the Snow Wars?" Penniford gasped.

"Yep," I said.

"Awesome," Penniford squeaked.

We scampered out the door.

We were two minutes late and already St. Nick's elves were getting pelted by the Santa-Biters.

I took out the candy.

I handed the Muscle Gum to Bratfur. He threw it in his mouth.

Suddenly, his eyes went red. He squealed. He grabbed a boy's snow mouse and ripped it off the ground.

"That was my best snow mouse," The boy said.

Bratfur threw it. It landed on Tasha. She looked like a snow mouse.

Then Bratfur grabbed the snow on the ground and ripped it off the ground, taking some grass with him.

He threw it. It hit Punk Rat directly in the face.

Bratfur pounded on his chest like a gorilla.

I took a Smarty-chew and handed it to Liza. "Eat it," I demanded.

"Why?" Liza asked. "Just do it," I said. Liza threw it into her mouth.

All of a sudden, her pupils got smaller until they were just tiny specks.

She took a snowball.

"In my hand I have rain that has frozen in my hand," She said. She looked at one of the Santa-Biters big guns. Punk Rat loaded a snowball into it.

"If I were to throw this snowball at 2.47 degrees, I should be able to reverse the direction of the snowball," Liza said.

She threw the snowball just as Punk Rat launched the snowball.

The snowball crashed into Punk Rat's snowball.

The snowballs merged with each other and flew back to the big guns.

The snowball crashed into the glove. The force of the blow caused the glove to fly off.

"It worked!" Saveanna squeaked.

"Now to throw like a pro," I said. We grabbed our snowballs and threw them. They were all direct hits. The Santa-Biters crashed to the ground.

Then I took out a Hyper-Candy and gave it to Penniford. He started running around the battlefield, grabbing snowballs and throwing them. The snowballs all hit Punk Rat in the face.

Then I took out the Knock-Out Chocolate. "Charge!" I yelled.

We scampered towards the Santa-Biters.

When I was near a Santa-Biter, I shoved the Knock-Out candy into their mouth.

The Santa-Biters eyes rolled back into their head, and they plopped to the ground.

Eventually, St. Nick's elves had won. We had beaten the Santa-Biters. The Santa-Biters got up and ran.

Punk Rat hid behind a rock. "They couldn't have won that easily," He said. "Their hiding something, and I'm gonna find out."


	31. Skating around the Mall

**Note: Just so you know, some of the events in this chapter I got from the film A Looney Toons Christmas.**

I walked home. "I'm going to go buy some presents," I said to myself.

I walked up to Jessica.

"Mom, I'm going to get some presents for my friends," I said. "OK," Jessica said. "Stay safe."

"What could happen?" I said as I walked out the door.

I went into the Wal-Mart store.

I saw Punk Rat.

I also saw Malcolm with Liza. "Come, my love," He was saying. "The best present one can offer is love."

Malcolm was always trying to hit on Liza. Liza held out her hand, and Malcolm held it.

Suddenly, Punk Rat pulled Liza away. Malcolm was always trying to hit on Liza, while Punk Rat was trying to break them up.

"Come on, cheddarface," Punk Rat said to Liza. "If you ask me, you're better off with-!"

He was cut off with Liza throwing a punch to the face. The punch sent him flying into a sweater hanging from a hanger.

I walked up to him.

"Punk Rat, I don't think you should get in the way of love," I said to him. "I don't think you should get in the way of anything."

"Say's you," Punk Rat said, getting out of the sweater. "I get in the way of everything."

"You know, if you were nice to mice, you could be on Santa's nice list," I said. "Santa doesn't exist," Punk Rat snorted.

"You know, if you keep this up, your gonna get bad karma," I said. "Bad what?" Punk rat asked.

"Bad karma," I said.

"What the heck is bad karma?" Punk Rat asked.

"Karma is when if you do something bad, something bad will happen to you," I explained. "If you do something good, something good happens to you."

"That is the second dumbest thing I've ever heard," Punk Rat growled.

"What's the first thing?" I asked.

"The first was when Malcolm said his three year old sister entered the weight-lifting contest and won," Punk Rat said. "How dumb is that?"

"But Punk Rat, she did," I replied. "She lifted 200 pounds. And then she threw it on you."

"Well, then karma is the first dumbest thing I've ever heard," Punk Rat snorted.

I sighed and walked away. I stopped dead in my tracks.

There, only a few feet away, was Saveanna, Penniford and Bugsy. Penniford was dressed as Santa Claus, while Saveanna and Bugsy were dressed as elves.

A mouselet with grey fur sat in Penniford's lap. "What do you want for Christmas, son?" Penniford asked.

"A toy truck," The mouselet said. "Well, I will see to it that you will be playing with a toy truck on Christmas," Penniford said. "Merry Christmas."

"What are you doing?" I asked. "The shop owner is paying me to do this," Penniford whispered.

I snorted and walked away as a little girl with blond hair and light brown fur jumped into Santa's lap.

I crashed right into Punk Rat. "Watch it, clumsy," Punk Rat barked.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. I noticed he was carrying some toys. "Who are those for?" I asked. "There for me," Punk Rat answered proudly.

"You're not buying any presents for anyone else?" I asked. "Nope," Punk Rat said.

"Why is that?" I asked. "Because I'm greedy," Punk Rat said. "I don't care if I'm on Santa's naughty list. I'll still have presents and there all mines."

"You're not even going to give to the orphanage?" I gasped.

"Heck no," Punk Rat retorted.

My jaw hit the ground.

"If you give rather than get, a miracle could happen and you'd be happy," I said.

"A miracle," Punk Rat said skeptically. "Really? You believe in miracles?"

"Yes," I said. "One could happen."

"Benny, when I accidently paid more money on your present than on mine, that was as close to a miracle as you'll ever get," Punk Rat snarled.

"Well at least give some of the presents-,"

I was cut off by Punk Rat shoving me away. "Get outta my way, punk," He said.

I tumbled into Carmen, who was holding a skateboard. She dropped it, and I accidently stumbled onto it.

I skated around the shop. I grabbed a dress for Bugsy, sneakers for Penniford, jeans for Saveanna, roller skates for Malcolm, and toy hand cuffs for Steven.

However, I was speeding out of control.

"Where was that pair of sneakers I was going to get?" Punk Rat mumbled. "It would be a miracle if I saw those sneakers right now."

"Look out!" I squeaked. Punk Rat looked up and saw me holding the sneakers and many other presents. And I was skating right towards him.

"Be careful what you ask for," Punk Rat mumbled before I crashed into him. We rolled around the shop and flew off the balcony.

"!" We screamed.

Then karma came up on stage. The good karma saved me and I fell onto a poster as if it were a net.

But Punk Rat got bad karma and he continued falling-until his behind landed right on the point of a Christmas tree star. He stood there, as if frozen. His face was stuck in a horrified gasp.

Finally, he screamed.

"!"

He jumped up and shot up towards me, clutching his bottom.

He ripped into the poster, and I fell.

But good karma saved me and I fell into a stocking. Punk Rat still had bad karma and he fell into the Christmas tree. He hit all of the branches.

He crashed into one of the giant presents.

Carmen walked up to me. "Can I have the skateboard back?" She asked. "It's for my brother."

"Take it," I said, handing it to her. She took it and scampered away. Punk Rat crawled out of the present, covered in bruises.

"I told you that you would get bad karma," I said.

"Bah, humbug," Punk Rat snorted and walked away. 


	32. Rampage around the Mall

Punk Rat grumbled.

"Good karma, bad karma, miracles, how stupid are those?" He said to himself.

Steven walked up to him and noticed the bruises.

"You say that's not karma?" He asked. "I watched the whole thing, and Benny seemed to have a lot of good luck and-,"

"What do you know four eyes?" Punk Rat yelled. "First I'm hearing of karma, then I'm hearing of miracles, and now I'm hearing of luck! If you ask me, that's-!"

"Quiet!" A woman called. "You nearly broke my eardrums," Geronimo, who had just entered the store, said.

"What a loud, short-tempered mouselet," A man said.

"What a strong pair of lungs," Steven said.

"Shut up!" Punk Rat yelled. "I don't need anyone telling me that I have strong lungs or that I nearly broke their eardrums!"

"You know, you could read one of those anger-management books so you feel happy this Christmas," I said, still stuck in the stocking.

Punk Rat stared at me. "Snowball fight, 2:00 pm tomorrow!" He squeaked. I sighed.

"Ho, ho, ho, looks like I'm gonna have to fill that mouse's stocking with coil," Penniford chuckled.

Punk Rat stared at him. "Why are you wearing a Santa Claus costume?" He asked.

"The shop owner is paying us to do this," Saveanna said.

"So, ho, ho, go home," Bugsy said.

At that, Punk Rat lunged and tore off Penniford's fake beard. The mouselets all gasped.

"Uh-oh," Penniford said.

I jumped out of the stocking and smacked Punk Rat in the head, causing him to let go of the beard.

I snatched it and gave it to Penniford.

"As you see, mouselets, this isn't the real Santa," I said. "This Santa is just going to find out what you want so the real Santa can give it to you."

"Hurray!" The mouselets cheered.

Punk Rat grumbled.

"If you were nice, you'd have good karma," I said on purpose. That was the last of Punk Rat's nerves.

He squeaked and ran around the shop like a mad mouse.

He threw toys to the ground, punched shelves, and ripped toys to pieces.

"Let's get outta here," Geronimo said. We started sneaking out. Punk Rat crashed right through the window, squeaking.

"Uh-oh," I said.

Punk Rat squeaked as he ran. Instinctively, other mice followed. They squeaked and ran and fought each other.

Soon the entire town was fighting each other. The air was filed with the screams of mice.

I plopped onto my stomach as I tried to crawl home.

"Come with me," A voice said.

I looked up. It was Isaac. I followed him away. "What did you do?" Isaac asked.

"Uh, nothing," I said innocently. Isaac threw a Smarty-chew into his mouth.

"You told Punk Rat about karma making him freak out," He said.

"Yes," I sighed.

"Well, you shouldn't have done that," Isaac said. "You can stay here until the fighting stops."


	33. Days of Chaos

One day later, things hadn't gotten any better.

In fact, they'd gotten worst. Mice everywhere were fighting and squeaking and screaming.

Everyone was doing the thing they've always wanted to do. Unfortunately, they mostly involved slamming other mice onto tables and body slamming them.

Nobody was thinking of stopping the chaos. They thought it was too much fun. Yes, they literally thought throwing chairs in the air, getting drunk, and beating people with guitars was fun.

Not even the police did anything. In fact, they joined in what they called fun. Even the mayor ripped off his vest and jumped into the fray.

This was the Days of Chaos. It was a 'tradition' where everyone acted like mad mice. It started the same year as the Snow Wars, which was 334 AD.

"This has gone horribly wrong," Punk Rat whined before being slammed into a table.

"And to think this was all caused by the outburst of one mouselet," Isaac said.

"Mice can be so impulsive and reckless," I added.

Punk Rat flew into the house.

"You gotta hide me," He said. "Those mice are all after me."

"Who?" I asked.

"St. Nick's elves," Punk Rat whined.

"OK, I'll take a look out there," I said.

Sure enough, Bratfur, Liza, Bugsy, Penniford and Saveanna were at the door.

"Mouselets, if you want to be on Santa's nice list then you must _be _nice," I said.

"Oh all right," Bratfur said. "But just one thing."

"And what is that?" I asked.

Bratfur took out a snowball and threw it at Punk Rat. It hit him in the face.

"Well he deserved that," I said.

Then mouselets began to leave. "Hey, come back," I said. The mouselets returned.

"Can you get those rampaging mice to cool down," I asked.

"We'll try," Bugsy said. They scampered outside.

Fifteen seconds later, they returned covered in bruises.

"They didn't listen, did they?" I guessed. "Yep," Penniford said.

"Well, at least you didn't bite anyone like you did last year's Day of Chaos," I said. Then I thought to myself.

"Actually, how about you let me see those teeth just to make sure you didn't bite anyone," I added.

"Yeah, I think some of them are over there," Penniford choked. He wasn't joking.

At least six of his teeth had been knocked out and were scattered on the ground from all the fighting.

"This has gone far enough," Isaac said. He walked outside. His eyes turned blue.

"Stop all this meaningless fighting," He said hypnotically. "What else will it bring but anger and fear?"

At this, everyone else stopped what they were doing. They stopped stomping and punching and kicking and biting.

"We will," Geronimo said. They all walked back into their houses as if nothing had happened.

They didn't bother to clean up their mess. "I'm glad that's over," I said. "Usually, the Days of Chaos last at least a week."

"Benjamin!" Jessica called. "Penniford! Saveanna!"

"We have to go," Penniford said. We began scampering home.

"See you soon!" I called to Isaac.


	34. Snowball Battlefield

I sat in my chair at St. Nick's Lobby.

"I wander what Punk Rat is going to do," I said. "He said that we would have a snowball fight the day before yesterday, but since yesterday was the Days of Chaos, we didn't get a snowball fight."

At that moment an arrow struck just beside my head. It had a massage attached to it. It read:

_Thou fairest Benjamin, because thou didn't have thy snowball fight,  
>because of the Days of Chaos light,<br>We shall have it today,  
>Rather than yesterday.<em>

_Sincerely, Punk Rat_

"He can rhyme?" I gasped. "He actually knows quatrains?" I felt a twinge of jealousy.

The only time I sang a poem was that few days ago when everyone was singing and dancing.

And that was only because of a burst of inspiration from Geronimo. I decided to take my minds of poems.

"Well, I guess I should go to the snowball battlefield," I said. I scampered off.

Bugsy was also going to the battlefield. However, Tasha appeared in front of her. Of course, Punk Rat had sent her to prevent Bugsy from reaching her destination.

"Hello, tomboy," Tasha smirked. "Who are you calling a tomboy?" Bugsy snapped.

"You, tomboy," Tasha chuckled. "I have to reach the snowball battlefield, Tasha," Bugsy snapped.

"Oh, like you had to reach that hotdog store three years ago at just about the same time we found Suzy in that basketball net?" Tasha smirked.

"It was an accident," Bugsy said.

_Flashback…_

_The new girl, Suzy, had just signed up for cheerleading. She had long blond hair, blue eyes, and light brown fur._

_The cheerleaders were going to do the tower, and Suzy was on the top. Bugsy and Tasha were keeping her steady._

_It was Suzy's first time as a cheerleader, so she was worried. Tasha was reassuring her._

"_What could happen," She was saying. Benjamin came in. "Bugsy, Trap just opened up his new hotdog store," He said._

"_Really?" Bugsy squeaked. "Let's go."_

_She jumped up, accidently throwing Suzy into the air. "Where'd she go?" Tasha asked._

"_Over here," A voice said. The cheerleaders turned around. Suzy was sitting inside a basketball net._

"_We'll try to get you down," Tasha said. Suzy felt herself slip. "Uh-oh," She said before sliding trough the net._

_End flashback._

"It wasn't like I did it on purpose," Bugsy said.

"She was in the hospital for three days," Tasha said.

"It wasn't like I meant for her to break her right leg," Bugsy said.

"Now we're back to that accuse," Tasha scoffed.

Meanwhile, I was at the battlefield. Punk Rat and the Santa-Biters were also there.

Me and St. Nick's elves waited for someone to pick up a snowball.

Finally, Punk Rat threw a snowball. It missed Isaac.

We took our snowballs and threw them. I hit Carmen. Punk Rat hit Saveanna. Penniford hit Punk Rat.

Soon everyone but me and Punk Rat were lying scattered on the ground.

I scooped up a snowball. Punk Rat took his. Punk Rat threw it. I jumped through the air and threw mines.

Punk Rat's snowball just missed me. My snowball hit him in the chest.

He crashed to the ground. I had won. St. Nick's elves had won the battle.

Everyone got up. St. Nick's elves cheered. The Frost-Biters scowled.

"Three cheers for Benjamin," Bratfur said.

"Hip hip, hurray!" Everyone cheered. "Hip hip, hurray!"

"Just leave and enjoy your little victory," Punk Rat snarled. "OK," I said. "If you say so."

We scampered off. 


	35. Revelation to the Elves

Me and St. Nick's elves saw Bugsy still arguing with Tasha.

"Bugsy, the snowball fights over," I said.

"I missed it?" Bugsy asked. "Yeah, but St. Nick's elves won," I said.

"Yippee!" Bugsy squeaked.

"I have a toboggan in my house," I said. "We can use it."

"OK," Bugsy said. We scampered off.

Five minutes later, we returned with the toboggan.

We climbed up a huge hill. We sat in the toboggan. But before we could go down the hill, we felt something surround us.

It started pulling us. The toboggan slipped down the hill. We were going as fast as 15 miles an hour.

"!" We screamed.

We were already down the hill, but we couldn't stop. This unseen force was still pulling us.

We zoomed past some mice. We even ran into them. We zoomed down another hill, this one smaller than the first.

We crashed into Tasha, sending her flying into a tree. We crashed into Carmen. "Sorry," I said to her.

We reached the bottom of the hill. Carmen flew off and landed on Punk Rat. Punk Rat pushed her off and saw us ride away. Determined to know where we were going, he followed us.

"We're going to die!" I screamed. "This is it!"

"Hey," Bugsy said. "We're slowing down."

It was true. We were slowing down.

We found ourselves near Santa's sleigh. We were going to the North Pole again. I saw all of St. Nick's elves were there too.

"The weirdest thing happened," Steven said. "I was trying out my new skates and I wind up here."

We saw Santa Claus in the sleigh. "Come in," He said. The other St. Nick's elves were clearly dumbfounded, but climbed in anyway.

But there was one unwanted guest who had also arrived in the sleigh. It was Punk Rat. The Santa-Biter climbed in and hid inside Santa's bag of toys.

You would've expected him to be shocked at finding Santa. But in truth, he was not.

He had been hiding something. It was the source of his naughtiness. And why he hated Christmas. And it was not just because he didn't get a present.

We flew all the way to the North Pole.

We flew inside St. Nick's castle.

We scampered out. Steven took one look at Santa and fainted.

Everyone else laughed. Nobody noticed Punk Rat stick his head out of the bag. His eyes widened as he saw that we were in St. Nick's castle.

I took a blue cheesy chew and threw it in my mouth. Steven regained consciousness.

"What are you eating?" He asked. I took another blue cheesy chew and shoved it into Steven's mouth.

His eyes widened. "Must have more," He said. He dove into the candy room. Punk Rat's jaw hit the ground.

Steven came out, his arms loaded with candy. "Where's Isaac?" He asked. "Why didn't he come?"

"Because I'm already here," A voice said. Steven turned around. Isaac stood in the hallway, facing Steven.

"I'm Santa's son," Isaac said.

Steven looked at a Knock-Out chocolate. He threw it in his mouth and fainted.

Punk Rat felt like fainting himself. Steven regained consciousness.

"You're really Santa's son?" He asked. "Yes," Isaac said. "Well, I'm not fainting no more," Steven said. "Let's go."

"Wait," Santa called. We turned around. "We have something for you," Isaac said.

A door opened. Several miniature sleighs that could fit at least two mouselets appeared behind it.

"There for you," Santa said. "You can come here and leave here whenever you want."

"Cool," Bugsy said. "We all got in one. Then we flew away. Punk Rat scampered out of the bag and climbed into one of the sleighs, and then he too flew off.


	36. Divorce

When I reached home, Jessica was outside waiting for me.

"You visited Santa, didn't you?" She said.

"Yes," I said. "And he gave me these new miniature sleighs," I said.

"Come inside," Jessica said. I obeyed and scampered in.

Meanwhile, Penniford was also scampering home. Suddenly, someone stuck out his foot and tripped him. It was Punk Rat.

"So, nerd," He said. "I hear you went to the North Pole, huh? Well, you are not telling anyone about that."

"How do you even know?" Penniford snorted.

"I was there," Punk Rat said. "Well, even if you were there, It's not like you can stop me from telling anyone," Penniford said.

"Wake up and smell the cheese, you little fool," Punk Rat sneered. "Nobody's gonna believe a loser like you. And if they did, they would know about Isaac being Santa's son and come after him. You don't want that to happen, do you?"

"N-n-n-no," Penniford stammered. "Good," Punk Rat grinned. He left.

Penniford scampered to my house. He burst in.

"Punk Rat was spying on us and knows we were at the North Pole!" He shrieked.

"What!" I squeaked. "And he's still going to convince mice not to believe in Santa," Penniford added.

Saveanna overheard. "I think he always knew about Santa's existence, but wants to get back at him for something," She said.

"That jerk," I said. "Just because he didn't receive a present he has to resent Santa."

"Benny," A voice said. "I don't think the present he wanted was just a small toy."

We turned around. Isaac came in.

"What do you mean it's not a small toy," I asked.

"Ben, nobody would turn against Santa for not receiving a toy," Isaac said. "Come with me."

I put on my jacket and followed him away. We stopped at Punk Rat's house.

We looked through the window in his room.

Punk Rat was sitting on his bed. He sighed. Then he broke down crying.

"What the heck?" I said. "Why is he crying?"

Punk Rat's father came in. He looked like the adult version of Punk Rat, with grey fur, orange hair, and a yellow shirt.

"Son, are you still crying about the divorce me and your mom had?" He asked.

"Divorce?" I gasped. "I know it was sad when mom and I broke up, I was crying too," Punk Rat's dad said. "But you need to get over it."

"I don't want to get over it," Punk Rat said. His dad sighed and closed the door.

"Of all the holidays of the year, why did they have to divorce on Christmas," Punk Rat sneered. "That was my favorite holiday."

"His parents had a divorce on Christmas?" I gasped.

"Santa, why did you not answer my call?" Punk Rat asked. "I was being nice and all I was asking for was for my parents to get back together."

"The present Punk Rat wanted was for his parents to get back together," I said. "No wonder he hates Christmas."

Punk Rat turned around and looked out the window.

"What the heck are you doing here," Punk Rat asked.

"I think we should leave now," I said. "Good idea," Isaac said. We ran off.


	37. Taking Flight

It was nighttime. OK, it was only 6:00, but I like to go to sleep early. I was just about to go to sleep when I hear a noise. Someone was knocking on my window.

I got up and looked out the window.

Isaac was standing outside.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked. "Are you afraid of heights?" He asked.

"No," I said. "Why?"

Isaac opened the window and pulled me outside.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Hold my hand," Isaac said. I did so.

Then he started rising off the ground.

We floated higher and higher off the ground. Soon, we were flying.

Well, only Isaac was flying. I was holding onto his hand.

We flew through the air.

"Geronimo!" I yelled.

We soared through the air like an airplane.

Then we flew towards Snow Monster High.

We looked through the window. Punk Rat and several other Santa-Biters, including Tasha and Carmen, were holding a meeting.

"Mouselets, I have been inside Santa's lair," Punk Rat said.

"Really?" Tasha asked.

"Yes, I was," Punk Rat said. "As you know, Santa is real, but we don't want anybody to know that."

"Right," The Santa-Biters agreed.

"Here's the plan," Punk Rat whispered. The other mouselets moved in and listened to the bully.

We couldn't make out what he was saying because he was whispering. He was a good whisperer.

When he was done, he and the others scampered out of the house.

"This is bad," I said. "Really bad. We have to call Santa."

"Good idea," Isaac said.

We floated to the ground.

"Ho, ho, ho," a voice laughed.

"He's here," I gasped. "Santa's here."

"We have to get back to your house," Isaac said. We ran off.


	38. Santa in My House

We reached my home.

Sure enough, Santa was standing in the living room. "Well, what took you so long?" He laughed.

"Busy," I said. "But I think it's me who should be asking the questions."

"Like what," Santa asked. "I made a discovery," I said. "I know why Punk Rat acts like a grouch on Christmas."

"And what is that?" Santa asked.

"Why didn't you bring Punk Rat's parents back together?" I asked. "We went to his house and found that out."

"Do you think I forgot to give Punk Rat his present?" Asked Santa. "I did not."

"Then why didn't they get back together?" I asked.

"They aren't," Santa said. "Not yet."

I was intrigued. What did Santa mean by 'not yet'?

Meanwhile, Bugsy had snuck into Snow Monster High.

"If I can get some stuff from here, I could find out Punk Rat's plan," She said.

She took a paper. It read,

_Thou Santa-Biters of Snow Monster High,  
>We are on a mission so don't be shy,<br>We will go to the North Pole,  
>To reach our goal.<em>

"Punk Rat can rhyme?" Bugsy gasped. "Well, anyway, I have to tell Benjamin about this."

"Too late," A voice snarled.

Bugsy turned around. Punk Rat and two other Santa-Biters were blocking her path. The two boys were the same ones who helped lure Bugsy, Saveanna and Penniford to Snow Monster High.

"You didn't think I wouldn't be prepared for this?" Punk Rat asked.

"I guess you're not as dumb as you look," Bugsy snorted.

"Oh yeah?" Punk Rat growled. "Get her, boys."

The two Santa-Biters grabbed Bugsy by the arm. Tasha emerged from the shadows with a huge box.

Tasha opened the box, and the Santa-Biters dragged Bugsy over to it.

Then they pushed her into the box. Punk Rat closed it up.

Tasha left and came back with a huge paper. The paper was light blue with dark green stripes.

Tasha neatly spread it on the ground. Punk Rat and the two boys lifted up the box and placed it on the paper.

Then the Frost-Biters started wrapping the box up. When it was wrapped up, they picked it up and scampered away.

Meanwhile, I was still talking to Santa.

"What do you mean not yet?" I asked. Santa took out a magical snow globe.

He lifted it up in the air. It floated there. Then it got larger. And larger.

We were so busy focusing on the snow globe we didn't notice Punk Rat and the Santa-Biters at our window.

The snow globe glowed. Then it revealed Punk Rat's mom and dad. They were on the phone, talking to each other.

"Its official then," His mom said. "We will have the remarry on Christmas, which is in two days."

"They're getting back together," I gasped. "You did remember Punk Rat's wish."

"Yes, I was just waiting for the right time," Santa said. We didn't notice Punk Rat and the others climb up our house to Santa's Sleigh.

"Well, anyway, Punk Rat has a plan to destroy Christmas," I said.

"What is it?" Santa asked.

"I didn't hear," I said. "He was whispering."

Punk Rat and the Santa-Biters started climbing into presents and hiding themselves in Santa's bag.

"I must leave now," Santa said. He and Isaac flew up the chimney.

Meanwhile, Bugsy was fighting in the present. She rolled out of the bag.

Santa and Isaac jumped into the sleigh and flew off. Bugsy rolled down the chimney.

I came and opened it. "Bugsy, what are you doing in the present?" I asked.

"I'll explain everything," Bugsy said. "But the short version is Punk Rat is going to ruin Christmas." 


	39. Determined to Save Christmas

Bugsy told me how the Santa-Biters had hidden in presents and gone to the North Pole and that they trapped her in a present too, but she escaped.

I listened to every detail. I knew Punk Rat was going to the North Pole to destroy Christmas, and I had to stop him. I had to tell him that there was no need to ruin Christmas. His parents were getting back together.

"We have to stop him," I said. Suddenly, Isaac's face appeared in front of us.

"Benjamin," He said. "Santa has a magic emerald in his castle. Mice can use it to grant them any wish. Punk Rat will seek it. You must stop him."

Isaac disappeared. "I know what I have to do," I said. I ran into my room. I took out the miniature sleigh Santa gave me.

"Bugsy, go get help," I said. "I have to save Christmas."

I flew away to the North Pole. Bugsy scampered up to Penniford and Saveanna's room. "Wake up, guys," She said.

"What is it," Saveanna asked sleepily.

"Benjamin went to the North Pole." Bugsy told them. "He followed Punk Rat there."

"We have to stop Punk Rat," Penniford said. The three mouselets scampered out the room.

"Should we wake Aunt Jessica," Penniford asked.

"No," Bugsy said. "OK," Penniford said. They ran downstairs.

"Come to my house," Bugsy said. "We'll use the sleigh."

The three mice scampered out the door.

They stopped at Geronimo's house. "We have to wake him," Saveanna said. "OK," Bugsy replied.

They ran into his house. Geronimo had heard the noisy mouselets and woke up. "Robbers," He gasped.

"Uncle G?" Bugsy called.

"It's only Bugsy," Geronimo sighed. The three mouselets entered his room.

"Uncle G, Ben went to the North Pole," Bugsy said.

"We have to go there," Geronimo exclaimed. They ran out the door.

"Wake up the St. Nick's elves mice," Bugsy ordered. Saveanna and Penniford raced away.

Bugsy and Geronimo stopped at Bugsy's house. "Let's go in," Bugsy said. She and Geronimo scampered inside.

By the time they got out all of the St. Nick's elves were outside with their mini sleighs.

"Let's go and stop the Santa-Biters!" Bugsy called. They jumped into their sleighs and took off.

Meanwhile, at the North Pole, Santa had just landed in his castle.

He jumped out with Isaac and they walked away. The boxes started rumbling. Some mouse tails and mouse paws stuck out. The Santa-Biters ripped out of the boxes.

At that moment I flew in. I spotted them. I knew I couldn't stop them all, so I just followed them.

"What do I do?" I wondered. "The emerald. I must get the emerald."

Tasha turned around. I had to think fast so I hid behind a pillar. She didn't see me and continued walking.

I sighed with relief. "That was a close one."

I continued following them. "I hope Bugsy arrives," I said.


	40. Weak against the Ice

Bugsy flew 20 miles an hour in her mini sleigh.

The other mice in the St. Nick's elves group weren't far behind.

"Come on!" Bugsy squeaked. "We're almost there."

Bugsy could see Santa's castle in front of her. "A little farther and we'll be there."

Geronimo was lagging behind. He obviously didn't know how to pilot his sleigh, and kept veering off course.

"Watch out!" He yelled. Liza flew out of the way. "Watch it!" Bratfur yelled.

"How did you get your flying license?" Bugsy asked.

"I didn't," Geronimo admitted. Bugsy rolled her eyes.

Meanwhile, I was still following the Santa-Biters. I saw them enter a weapons room.

They came out with freeze guns. The guns were yellow with a red fin on top. I was too busy staring at the guns to notice a crack in the ground. I stepped on it, and I broke off.

The Santa-Biters turned to face me. Before I knew what happened a huge chunk of ice was shot at me.

I was frozen in a block of ice. My face was the only part of me not frozen. Punk Rat walked up to me, freeze gun in hand.

"You are either very brave, or very stupid," He said. "You can say I'm both," I said.

"Well, just so you don't do any more stupid stuff, we're keeping you in that ice," Punk Rat said with a smirk.

He walked away. "You come back here or I'll-!"

I was cut off by Tasha shooting a block of ice from her freeze gun. It froze my mouth so I couldn't speak.

If I could, I would have snorted.

I felt so weak now. Punk Rat would ruin Christmas, and I couldn't do anything about it. I looked to the ground.

Then I saw the broken ice. It had made a hole in the ground, and underneath the ice was water. And there was something in the water.

It was moving. And it was moving right up to me. It was the leopard seal. The leopard seal that had tried to attack me on my first visit to the North Pole.

I wondered. Was it going to eat me?

It jumped through the ice. It wacked the ice I was frozen in and it broke off. He had freed me.

"Thanks buddy," I said as the leopard seal swam back down.

I raced in the direction Punk Rat disappeared to. Then I remembered the candy. I could use the candy.

I could use the Muscle-Gum, the Smarty-Chews, and the Knock-Out candy. Those were all useful. I raced to find the candy room.

But first, I ran and took a freeze gun. I would need that. "Now to find the candy room," I said.


	41. Smell of a Rat

St. Nick's elves flew through the air.

"We're almost there," Bugsy said.

"Bugsy!" Geronimo squeaked. "I can't control this thing!"

Before he knew what was happening, he fell from the sleigh.

"AAAAAAAAHHH-!"

He fell face-first in the snow. He stood up and spit out some snow. "Looks like I'm going to have to continue on foot," He said.

He walked to the castle. Bugsy and the St. Nick's elves mice landed on a platform.

Bratfur looked down and saw the footprints the Santa-Biters had made.

"Look here," He said. They looked at the footprints. "Those footprints were made from Punk Rat's boots, no doubt," Liza said.

"Look," Bugsy said, pointing at some more footprints. "These are Ben's footprints."

"We're on the right track," Bratfur said. "Let's go."

The brave mice ran in the direction of the footprints.

Meanwhile, Punk Rat halted his group. "What are we waiting for?" Tasha asked.

"I smell a rat," He said. A sewer rat scuttled by. "Not that rat," Punk Rat said.

"We froze Benjamin," Tasha said. "What do we have to worry about?"

"My papa told me if you see a rat there's bound to be more," Punk Rat said.

"You're saying there are more St. Nick's elves?" Tasha asked.

"I know when I smell a rat," Punk Rat said. "And right now, there stench is huge."

"Hey look," A Santa-Biter boy said. "There's a room over there."

"It says 'Defense room'," Punk Rat snorted. "And something tells me we're not going to like what's in there."

"How much harm could it be?" The boy asked. He opened the door. A huge cannonball fired a giant snowball. It hit the boy right in the face.

"Idiot," Punk Rat said. "I told you not to open it."

"Sorry," The boy said. "Come on," Punk Rat growled. "No more stopping unless I say so."

"Wait, Punk Rat," Tasha called. "What about the St. Nick's elves group and Benjamin?"

"If I cared, then I'd be looking for them," Punk Rat barked. He pulled a lever, and a blat of snow fell on Tasha.

The Santa-Biters laughed, but one cold stare from Punk Rat shut them up.

"Stop your howling and start moving!" He yelled. The mice nodded, and followed him.

Unbeknownst to the Santa-Biters, I had caught up with them.

I could see the Candy room. I rubbed my hands with glee.

"Just a few more feet, and I'll have reached the Candy room," I whispered.

I saw Punk Rat's ear move in my direction, and he turned to me. I hid behind a pillar. Punk Rat shrugged and walked away.

Meanwhile, Geronimo had reached Santa's castle.

"Yes," He cheered. "I've finally-!"

He was cut off by a trap-door opening up underneath him, and he fell in.

"AAAAAAHH-!"

He hit the ground with a sickening thud.

"Did you hear something?" Carmen asked. "No," Tasha said. They walked away.

Geronimo lied sprawled on the ground. He felt his eyes close. He let darkness take him, and he fainted. 


	42. Found by the St Nick's elves

The St. Nick's elves mice ran along the path.

"Hey, look there," Bratfur said, pointing at the weak ice that had broken earlier. "Do you think Ben fell in?"

"No," Bugsy said. "His footprints go past that. But there's a pile of ice over there."

"The Santa-Biters froze Ben?" Liza asked. "I think so," Bugsy said. "But he escaped."

Meanwhile, I was waiting for Bugsy and the St. Nick's elves group to arrive.

Then I got an idea. I took some snow and made it into a snowball. Then I threw it in the air. Sure enough, Bugsy saw it.

"Look," She said. "We're on the right track."

The mice went in the direction of the snowball. They found me.

"So there you are," Bugsy said. "Where did the Frost-Biters go?"

"They went that way," I said, pointing in the direction they had left.

"Let's go," Bugsy said. The mouselets ran in that direction. However, Bratfur and Liza, who were lagging behind, didn't notice two Santa-Biters boys hiding in the shadows. They lunged and shoved Bratfur and Liza into a room.

"Aw man," Bratfur grumbled. "Hey," Liza said. "This is the Candy room."

"Great," Bratfur said. "Give me some of that Muscle gum."

Liza handed him the gum. He popped into his mouth. His eyes turned red. His muscles grew. Soon he looked like the mouse version of the Incredible Hulk.

With one punch, he knocked the door down. The door fell on the two Santa-Biters, knocking them out.

Bratfur and Liza stormed out of the room. Me and Bugsy were waiting for them.

"What took you so long?" I chuckled. We continued after Punk Rat.

Meanwhile, Isaac had snuck into a secret room. It held the magic emerald. It had all the colors of the rainbow, and shined in the dark.

"Just so Punk Rat doesn't get it, I'm going to have to take it," He said. "Then I'll give it to Benjamin."

He grabbed it and ran away.

Meanwhile, I halted the St. Nick's elves. "What is it?" Steven asked.

"Look over there," I said. "It's Punk Rat and the Santa-Biters."

Sure enough, Punk Rat was standing ten meters away from us. He was telling one group of Santa-Biters to go to the left, and the others to the right.

"I wonder what he's doing," I said.

"Do you think he knows were here?" Bugsy asked. "He didn't see us," I said.

"Let's continue on," Steven said.

"Yeah," Agreed Bratfur, who no longer had the powers the Muscle gum granted him.

We started walking on.

"Do you hear something?" Liza asked.

"No," I said. "Why?"

"I just thought I heard someone," Liza said. "You were probably hearing things," Bratfur said.

"No she's not," A voice said. We turned around. Isaac was floating towards us with the emerald.

"Is this the emerald you were talking about?" I asked. "It is," Isaac said. He handed it to us.

"Thanks," I said. "What do we do with it?" Bratfur asked.

"I have an idea," A voice said. Me and Bratfur were suddenly whacked in the back with a club. I dropped the emerald and we fell to the ground.

"Hand it over to me," The voice finished. It was Punk Rat. He snatched the emerald. Santa-Biters appeared and surrounded us.

"I see we have caught the rats," Tasha smirked.


	43. Fight for the Emerald

"Well, we've caught you," I said. "Put your hands up."

All the Santa-Biters, except Punk Rat, put up their hands. Punk Rat stared at them, and they put their hands back down.

"One of you, take Benjamin," Punk Rat ordered. A Santa-Biter put me in a headlock.

"What do we do now?" Tasha asked. "Well, I suppose this emerald must be important," He said.

"We'll have to get the St. Nick's elves group to spill the beans," Tasha said.

"Bugsy, don't tell them the emerald is magic and can grant any wish," Bratfur blurted out.

My eyes widened. Punk Rat's mouth gaped. "Well, that was easy," He finally said.

"What do you plan on doing with that emerald?" Bugsy asked.

"I'm going to take revenge on Santa," Punk Rat said.

"And just how are you going to do that?" I asked. I knew it was a stupid question, but I felt I had nothing to lose.

"I have the emerald, you've been captured-!"

I cut Punk Rat off. "You haven't captured us," I said. "Just because we ran into each other doesn't mean we've been captured. You'd need handcuffs to capture us."

I suddenly realized I had made a mistake. "Handcuffs, eh?" Punk Rat smirked. He closed his eyes.

"I wish that handcuffs were attached to the St. Nick's elves."

I felt something metal clamp down onto my forearm. I looked down. Handcuffs bound my arms together.

I looked around. All of the St. Nick's elves had handcuffs on them. Some had handcuffs on the legs, others on their arms, and some even on the necks.

"Well, that proves this emerald is magic," Punk Rat said.

"Hey look up here," A voice called. Everyone looked up. Isaac was flying through the air. He had gotten his handcuffs off of him.

"I bet you can't do this," He said, doing a back flip in midair.

"You little creep," Punk Rat growled. I took the distraction the crush the Santa-Biter's foot. He let go of me and started hopping around on his good foot. I then charged and head butted Punk Rat in the stomach.

He fell to the ground. The emerald slipped out of his paws. It landed in Bratfur's paws.

"I wish these handcuffs were off," He said. Instantly, the handcuffs disappeared from the St. Nick's elves.

All eyes turned to Bratfur. "Uh-oh," He said. Then he took off running, the Santa-biters close behind him. They surrounded him and grabbed him, trying to snatch the emerald from him.

"I wish I had long arms," Bratfur squeaked. His arms started growing. They became long. They grew above everybody's heads. His arms reached the top of a balcony, where Punk Rat was waiting. He grabbed the emerald.

I flung myself onto him, causing him to drop the emerald.

Isaac grabbed it. Tasha pounced at him, but he grabbed her and threw her into the air. She flew into a wall.

Punk Rat took out his freeze gun and blasted Isaac's lower body, freezing him in place. I ran to help him out.

Punk Rat pressed a button on the wall. An alarm sounded. Immediately, living snowmen were at the scene.

"Arrest them," Punk Rat ordered them. "They tried to kidnap Isaac."

The snowmen turned to us. "Arrest the intruders," They said.

"Uh-oh," I whispered. "This is not good," Bugsy said.


	44. Fight from the Snowmen

The snowmen got closer.

"I can't believe those snowmen believed Punk Rat so easily," I said.

"They're so naïve," Bratfur said. "They're supposed to be," Isaac said.

"Hey, what do we have to worry about?" Steven asked. "They're made of snow."

A snowman heard the comment, pointed his hand at him, and a huge snowball shot out. It hit Steven in the stomach, sending him flying into a wall.

He sat up, rubbing his head. "So that's what we have to worry about."

The snowmen cackled. Then they advanced towards us again.

"Hey, wait," Isaac called. "Those guys aren't-!"

He was cut off by Punk Rat firing a snowball from his freeze gun that froze his mouth. Then Punk Rat threw the gun to me. All of the snowmen turned to me.

"Oh, brother," I sighed. "Guys, I know you're angry, but I didn't-!"

A snowman cut me off by firing a snowball at me. I was sent flying to the air. I got up and ran.

A snowman fired a snowball at me, just missing my head. In the trap-door, Geronimo opened his eyes.

"Benjamin?" He asked. He got up. "Where am I?"

He looked around and saw a secret slide. He instinctively walked up to it and slid down.

Meanwhile, I ducked to avoid a snowball. I looked and saw a room called 'Mini-sleigh room'.

I ran to it and pulled out a sleigh. Me, Bratfur, and Bugsy jumped into it and took off.

"We have to emerald, what are we going to do with it?" Bratfur asked.

"I guess I'll just have to make a random wish."

He closed his eyes. "I wish for…"

I knew it would take a long time for him to think of a wish. Thinking quickly, I asked, "What is an enemy to snow?"

"Fire," Bratfur answered. Immediately, he found his hands were on fire. A snowball shot from a snowman hit the sleigh.

We started falling. "AAAAAHH-!"

We hit the ground. Two snowmen looked at the rubble.

"Do you think we got them?" The first asked. "I think so," The second smirked. "Let's get that emerald and arrest the thieves."

All of a sudden, a huge blast of fire shot out of the rubble. The snowmen were thrown away. Bratfur came out, his eyes burning red.

The second snowman shot out a snowball. Bratfur burned it with his fire powers.

Then he engulfed the two snowmen in flames. Punk Rat's eyes widened.

"You want a piece of me!" Bratfur yelled. "Come and get it!"

He burned three more snowmen. Then he ran off after some more.

Me and Bugsy were lying in the rubble, unconscious. My eyes opened.

"What happened?" I asked. I got up. I saw all of the burned snowmen and ran in the direction of the destruction.


	45. War in the Castle

Steven got up. He had recovered from the snowball, and was confused as to why nobody was around.

"Where is everyone?" He asked. He turned around and saw the destroyed snowmen.

"I wonder where that leads," He said. He followed the trail of destruction.

Meanwhile, the St. Nick's elves were prevailing against the Santa-Biters and the snowmen.

Bratfur burned through the snowmen while the St. Nick's elves threw snowballs at the Santa-biters.

Liza hit Tasha with a huge snowball. "Take that," She said.

Bratfur burned through two more snowmen. "Keep going," One snowman said. "We must defeat the intruders."

"Uh, Bratfur?" I called. "I think Isaac could use your help."

Bratfur turned around. Then he burned through the ice holding Isaac. "Thank you," He said.

"Hey Isaac!" I called. "Take this."

I threw the emerald to him. However, Punk Rat jumped into the air and caught it.

"I got it," He said. "You will not stop me. I can't lose."

"You know what?" Steven asked. "I have just had about enough of you."

With that, he threw a punch to the face, knocking Punk Rat into the water.

"That actually felt good," Steven said. He caught the emerald.

"I got it," He said. "Let's go."

We ran off.

"Stop them," A snowman said. They ran after us.

Punk Rat crawled out of the water.

"Well, I guess that's it," One Santa-Biter said. "We've lost."

Punk Rat threw a punch to his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

"No we have not," Punk Rat growled. "We haven't lost yet."

"Then let's follow them," Tasha said.

Meanwhile, Geronimo had reached the end of the slide. He found himself in a huge room.

"Where am I?" He asked. "You are in Santa's secret room," A voice said. Geronimo turned around.

Santa stood in the shadows, his hands on his hips.

"So, what are you doing here?" He asked.

"You see, a mouselet called Punk Rat has infiltrated the castle and my nephew followed him," Geronimo said.

"You mean Benjamin," Santa said. "Yes, I suspected he might be here after the alarm was sounded."

"Can you help?" Geronimo asked. "Of course I can," Santa said.

The plump mouse walked up to a microphone.

"Snowmen!" He boomed. "Do you hear me?"

A snowman came. "Yes sir," He said.

"An intruder has entered," Santa called.

"We have tracked them down," The snowman said. "The leader has light brown fur and is about 9 years old."

"You got the wrong mouse," Santa sighed, face palming himself. "Who even told you he was an intruder?"

"A mouse with orange hair and grey fur," The snowman said. "That's the intruder," Santa said. "Get him."

"Yes sir," The snowman said. He ran off.

"My elves made those snowmen strong, but forgot to add intelligence," Santa said.

"So they believe anything anyone tells them," Geronimo said.

"Yes," Santa said. "Excuse me," Geronimo said. "I need to go see if Benjamin's OK."

He ran off. "Be careful," Santa said. "Those snowmen will be wary of anybody." 


	46. Saving Christmas

**Just so you know, some of the scenes from the Toy Store I got from the movie Gremlins.**

"Are they still following us?" I asked. Bugsy turned around.

"No snowmen," She said.

"That's odd," I said. "They were following us a moment ago."

"Maybe they realized we weren't intruders," Bratfur guessed.

"Even if they know we're good, what about the Frost-Biters?" I said.

As if on cue, Punk Rat came swinging to us from a vine. He kicked Bratfur, causing him to tumble into us.

I was able to grab onto Punk Rat's leg. We both swung up onto a high cliff. Unfortunately, all the other Frost-Biters were on the cliff too.

They pointed their freeze guns at me.

However, Punk Rat had dropped his freeze gun. Steven grabbed it. He pointed at the Frost-Biters and pulled the trigger.

The snowball flew right over the Santa-Biters heads. It hit the ceiling, and the ice crumbled down right on top of the Santa-Biters.

The cliff broke off, and we all fell down. I grabbed the edge of the cliff while the Frost-Biters crashed to the ground.

I took the emerald out of my pocket. "I wish a huge force field fell on top of the Santa-Biters and trapped them."

Immediately, a huge force field hovered over the temporarily stunned Santa-Biters. Then it dropped down with amazing speed.

It crashed on the Santa-Biters, trapping them inside.

"That was easy enough," I said.

"Ben, in the Toy Room," Bugsy called. I looked down.

Sure enough, a Santa-Biter was at the door to the Toy Room. And that Santa-Biter was Punk Rat.

"Punk Rat," I sneered.

Punk Rat looked up. He sneered at me and ran into the room.

I jumped down from the cliff and ran after him.

Punk Rat skated away on a skateboard. Then he turned a corner.

When I looked behind the shelves, he was gone.

"Where'd he go?" I asked myself.

I took a baseball bat and walked around the room. I heard a noise. Some boxes toppled down.

I turned around. No one was there. Then a TV turned on. Punk Rat's face appeared on it.

"Sorry punk," He said. "But you won't be able to stop me."

I swung my bat and shattered the TV. I realized my mistake and said, "I wish the TV was as good as new."

A puff of smoke covered the TV, and when it cleared, the TV didn't have a dent in it.

Then all of the TVs turned on with Punk Rat's face appearing on them.

"Benny," He Said. "Catch me."

I ignored him and continued on my way. I passed by a shelf full of stuffed animals.

I passed them, not noticing Punk Rat's face poke out from the toys. He snickered.

Before I knew it, a box full of Barbie dolls was hurled at me. I dodged.

Punk Rat pointed a water gun at me and sprayed me with water. Then he threw another Barbie filled box at me.

This time, I didn't have time to dodge the box. It hit me right in the stomach, knocking me over.

I looked up. Punk Rat was peddling away on a bike. I got to my feet and ran after him.

Punk Rat turned around and sprayed me with the water gun again. The water got in my face and I crashed to the ground.

I looked up. Punk Rat was gone. I saw his bike on the ground.

I ran to a shelf full of Star Wars toys. Some boxes tumbled to the ground.

Before I had time to react, a box containing a Clone Trooper from Star Wars was hurled at me.

It struck me in the head, knocking me down.

Punk Rat appeared with a slingshot. He loaded a big stone in it and slingshot it to me. It just missed my shoulder.

He loaded another rock into the slingshot and hurled it to me. It struck my shoulder. I screamed in pain.

Punk Rat hurled another rock at me, aimed for my head. I took the Clone Trooper box and used it to block the rock.

Then I threw the box at Punk Rat. It hit him in the head, knocking him down.

I sighed. I felt my eyes closing. Then they snapped open. Punk Rat was carrying a huge club and was walking over to me.

I grabbed the bat as Punk Rat brought the club down at me. I used the bat to block the club, then I knocked the club away.

I kicked Punk Rat in the leg, causing him to fall to the ground.

I got up. Punk Rat suddenly jumped to his feet and ran away. I ran after him.

He turned a corner again. I looked around. He was gone. I had lost him again.

Then I looked up. Punk Rat was using an elevator. The elevator stopped and he ran off.

"I wish I was in the same room as Punk Rat," I said. Immediately, I was covered in smoke. When the smoke disappeared, I was standing right in front of Punk Rat.

He swung his fist, knocking me down. He scampered off. I took a snowball.

I watched as he dove into a computer room. He looked at a button. Underneath the button read:

**This button will cause all of the toys to self-destruct. This should only be used in an emergency, like if the toys have turned evil and not because someone wants to get back at Santa and ruin Christmas.**

Punk Rat snickered and pointed his finger over the button. I aimed the snowball at him. I sweated.

If I missed, then Christmas would be ruined as we know it. Then I remembered what Isaac taught me.

I aimed the snowball and threw it. It hit Punk Rat in the back of his head. He crashed to the ground.

"I wish Punk Rat was tied up," I said. Punk Rat found himself bound in tight rope.

At that moment, a Snowman appeared.

"Uh-oh," I said. Instead of blasting me with snow, the Snowman shook my hand. "Thank you, sir," He said.

"Uh, you're welcome," I answered back. The snowman dragged the tied up Punk Rat away.

Soon, Punk Rat found himself before Santa Claus. The St. Nick's elves and Geronimo stood in front of him, their hands on their hips.

"Well could you blame me?" Punk Rat was saying. "You never gave me my Christmas present!"

"Punk Rat," Santa said softly. "We have a surprise for you at home."

"Christmas is tomorrow," I said. "I suggest you go home and find out what the surprise is."

Punk Rat sighed.

"Well, we saved Christmas, we should go home too," Bratfur said.

"I guess you're right," I said. "Let's get the mini-sleighs."


	47. Return Home

As we walked off to get the mini-sleighs, I stopped.

"Hey, Bratfur, you still have those fire abilities?" I asked.

"Yeah," Bratfur said. I took out the emerald. "I wish Bratfur's fire abilities were gone."

There was a puff of smoke that surrounded Bratfur. When the smoke disappeared, Bratfur tried burning the ground to see if he still had fire powers.

Not a puff of smoke. He tried again. Nothing.

"Aw, man," He sighed. "I could've performed magic tricks with those powers."

"Well, you can't have everything," I said.

"But I'm going to have something for Christmas," Bratfur said.

"Sure you are," I said. Bugsy took out the mini-sleighs.

"Here they are," She said. "Let's go home."

"I still don't get it," Punk Rat said. "What surprise were you talking about?"

"You'll see," I smirked. We started giggling.

"What's so funny?" Punk Rat asked.

"Let's just say we know what you'll be getting for Christmas," Steven said. Punk Rat shrugged.

"Hey, what about the other Santa-Biters?" Bugsy asked.

"I completely forgot about them," I said. "I wish the Frost-Biters were free from the dome."

Immediately, the Santa-Biter group was walking towards us.

"What happened?" Carman asked. "Last moment I was in a dome, next I'm out here."

"We freed you," Liza said. "You should be thanking us."

"Sure," Tasha said. "Thanks."

The others got into the mini-sleighs. I didn't budge.

"Come on," Bugsy said.

"I need to return the emerald," I said. I walked away.

I went into the emerald room. I saw the magic globe. I placed the emerald into the globe.

I walked out of the room. As I neared the sleigh, Isaac stopped me.

"Benjamin," He said. "I'm here to say goodbye."

"We'll always be friends," I replied. "You know that."

"Even though we'll probably never see each other again, we're tight," Isaac said.

We did a manly-hug.

"Goodbye good buddy," I said as I hopped into the sleigh.

"Goodbye," Isaac said. I took off.

When I got home with Penniford and Saveanna, we found Jessica waiting for me.

"I was worried sick about you," She said. "Where were you?"

"I had to go to the North Pole to save Christmas," I answered.

"You did?" Jessica asked. "Yes," I said.

"Did you succeed?"

"Yes."

"Well, you should go to bed and wait for your present."

"I should."

I walked upstairs and hopped into bed.

I was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

I dreamed of the presents that I would receive.


	48. Merry Christmas

I opened my eyes. It was 6:50 in the morning. It was Christmas day.

"I wonder if Santa gave me the presents," I said. I sat up.

I yawned, then got out of bed. I opened the door and walked out.

Penniford and Saveanna were also up. "Let's see if we got our presents," I said.

We walked downstairs.

There, lying under the Christmas tree was a dozen presents.

Immediately, we pounced on them, opening the present boxes to see the gifts.

Inside my present was the guitar I had wanted.

"I got my guitar," I said. "And I got the tennis racket I wanted," Penniford said. "I got the Barbie doll I wanted," Saveanna said.

"We all got the presents we wanted," I said.

We heard a knock on the door. We opened it.

Bugsy and Punk Rat stood at our doorsteps.

"What are you doing here?" I sneered at Punk Rat.

"I got my Christmas present," Punk Rat answered. "My parents got back together. Now I believe in Christmas."

"That's great," I said. "What about you, Bugsy?"

"I got the nutcracker toy I wanted," Bugsy said.

I turned to Punk Rat again.

"Anything else you want to say?" I asked him.

"Yeah," Punk Rat said. I expected him to say "Sorry for what I did yesterday".

Instead, he said, "I'm going to have the entire Santa-Biters club join the St. Nick's elves club."

"That's...great," I said.

"Son!" A voice called.

"That's my dad," Punk Rat said. "I have to go."

He ran away.

Later that day, all of the St. Nick's elves, joined by the Santa-Biters, met up at St. Nick's Lobby to talk about what they got for Christmas.

I got my guitar, Penniford got the tennis racket, Saveanna got a Barbie doll, Liza got a trumpet, Steven got a pair of maracas, Tasha got the Call of Duty: Black Ops game, Carmen got a ballerina toy, and Punk Rat's parents got back together.

Soon, only Bratfur was left.

"What did you get?" I asked.

"I got Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," Bratfur said proudly. Our eyes widened. We started chuckling. Bratfur looked offended.

"I got it for Blu-ray," He added.

"Merry Christmas," Bugsy said.

Then everybody turned to me. I had stopped laughing and was staring up at the sun.

"What's wrong?" Bugsy asked.

"It's just that Isaac's gone and I'll probably never see him again," I sighed.

"Even if you don't see him again, you'll still be friends," Bugsy said. "I know," I smiled.

Next Monday, when we went back to school, Miss. Angel Paws said, "Welcome back class."

"Where's Isaac?" Malcolm asked.

"He's gone," I sighed. All of a sudden, a mouselet entered the room.

He had yellow fur, jet black hair, blue eyes, a light blue sweater, and dark blue jeans.

My eyes widened in shock. It was Isaac.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"My father let me come here," He said happily. "Speaking of which, I have a confession to make to the class."

He turned to face the class.

"Hey guys," He said. "I know this sounds crazy, but I am Santa's son."

For a moment, everyone remained silent. Then the class burst into laughter.

"Yeah right," Malcolm guffawed.

"Oh yeah," Isaac smiled. "Then could I do this."

He floated through the air. Everyone stopped laughing and stared at him.

He flew around the class. Everyone's jaw hit the ground. Except the jaws of the Santa-Biters and St. Nick's elves.

He floated to the ground.

"Now do you believe me?" He asked. Everyone nodded.

"Good," He said. He sat in his chair.

Miss. Angel Paws stared at Isaac for a moment, then said, "Well class, looks like we have made a big discovery."

Everyone nodded.

"Well then, let's get to work," She continued.

I looked out the window. There, in the clouds, I saw Santa riding in his sleigh.

"Ho, ho, ho," He laughed. "Merry Christmas!"

I smiled. "Merry Christmas to you too."


End file.
